I need you
by gurl3677
Summary: She needs him. He has to come but will he? He will trust her enough to help her? If it comes down to the group, her or his past, which will he chose to go with? This is not a girl from Daryl's past even though it kind of sounds that way. Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1

_* Please Review! I bought Season 2 today! Anyone else have it?*_

Daryl crouched down the second he spotted the three walkers. He was supposed to be hunting for the group who were camping out in the woods until they figured out where to go next. He carefully brought his cross bow up and took aim at the once female walker. He pulled the trigger and took it down. He set his bow down and started to reload it, while keeping his eyes on the walkers.

" Shit." He muttered to himself. He had drawn the remaining two attention. They turned and started to come towards him. " Shit." He said again because he knew he couldn't reload the bow fast enough to take them both down.

He stood up, ready to make a run for it when one walker went down with an arrow sticking out of it's head. Before he couldn't even blink before the last walker was brought down. Daryl was breathing hard as he whipped around. Standing on a large tree branch, above the ground, was a young woman. She had her hair pulled up and was staring down at him. She was lowing her arms down to her sides. She was holding a bow and had a quiver attached to her back. She gave him a short nod then jumped down to the ground.

" Hey!" Daryl called out. But it was to late, she took off running, disappearing straight into the woods. "What the hell." He muttered to himself. With a shake of his head, he turned and started back towards the group. He was grateful to the stranger for helping him but he wasn't risking his life to run and thank her.

TWDTWDTWD

Someone was watching them. Daryl could tell and it pissed him off. He wanted to know who was watching them and why. Whoever it was, wasn't very smart. He always stayed hidden in the same spot so the ground was trampled down. That was how Daryl figured out someone was there. He was close enough to see them but far enough away that for a while no one knew he was there until Daryl stumbled on the spot.

Daryl staked out his own hiding place and waited. If someone was going to try and kill them, take their little supplies or hurt anyone in the group, Daryl would find out and stop it. He didn't want to admit it but he cared about some of them. He trusted Rick and Hershel. Glenn and Maggie had proven useful. He was indifferent towards Lori and Beth, liked Carl and was getting used to T-Dog then there was Carol. Carol, who clung to him like he was her lifeline. She needed someone to care for so Daryl let her try and take care of him. Besides, he didn't mind that someone wanted him around.

Daryl waited in the woods for a few hours and to his surprise, the he watching them, was a she. The same she he had seen in the trees. He narrowed his eyes and didn't move from his spot. She settled into the bushes and began her watch. What did she want? Why was she watching them? Who the hell was she?

Ava Wright's eyes searched the small group. She was looking for one man and one man only. She had to find him. He was the answer to everything, he just didn't know it yet. He was going to save her, free her, he had too. She felt bad that she was going have to lead him to her jailer, the man was crazy, but she didn't have a choice. Right now it was him or her, and it was going to be her. Besides, she didn't know him so what did she care what the jailer would do to him.

Ava was warned about him. Convincing him to trust her enough to leave with her was going to be tough but she had been told what words to use, what she should say to make him come. Once the jailer had him, she would be free. She would take off and make a new home in the dead world. She would get as far away from the jailor and his men as she could.

After a while, Ava got impatient. He must be in the woods, she thought. She crouched down and backed away carefully and quietly. She would find a big tree and climb it to try and see into the woods. That was how she found him last time. She would take to the trees and search for him. Today was the day she had to make contact. The jailer was not patient.

Ava hurried into the woods, knowing just the right tree she needed to climb. She was quick. She was quiet. She made almost no sound when she moved. She was alert with her eyes darting this way and that. She was sharp. But not sharp enough. Ava didn't noticed Daryl hurry past her a few yards away and didn't know he was waiting for her behind a tree. As she passed him, Daryl reached out and grabbed her, covering her mouth and bring her against his chest before he sank to the ground. His right hand was clamped on her mouth and his left arm was around her chest.

" I ain't gonna hurt you!" He hissed as she fought against him. She kicked her legs against the ground and arched her back to try and buck him off of her but it did nothing. He was solid against her back. His arms were tight around her body. " Just calm the fuck down!" But calming the fuck down was not something Ava had in mind. She continued to kicked and bucked against him. Daryl grunted and groaned as he fought to keep her still. He squinted and tighten his hold on her. " Calm down 'fore you bring some walkers down on us!" The threat did it's job. Slowly she started to settle down but her body was still tight with tension. " I'm gonna take my hand from your mouth and you ain't gonna scream, you hear me? I got questions for you and you are gonna answer them. You understand me?" Ava nodded and resisted the urge to bite his hand. Slowly Daryl took his hand from her mouth. She was breathing hard and he didn't miss how her breasts rose and fell on top of his arm.

" Can you let me go?" Ava asked.

" You can't out run me." Daryl warned.

" I'm not going to try." She said.

Against his better judgment Daryl loosen his hold on her and let her slip from his arms. Ava turned around and sat down directly across from him. They took a few seconds to stare at each other. She took in his handsome, dirty face and his bright blue eyes. He looked over her delicate features and green eyes. He narrowed his eyes as he sat with his back against the tree behind him. She was sitting on her knees with her small hands planted on the ground.

" Why are you spyin on my group?" He snapped.

" I'm not spying on them." She said softly.

" Saw your spot. Saw you watchin them." Daryl snapped.

" I was spying on you." She admitted. There was a moment where he was taken back. He frowned as he stared hard at her.

" Why the hell you watchin me?" He snapped. Ava rubbed her lips together and he watched as her green eyes started shifting around.

" Can we climb a tree to talk?" She asked.

" Why the hell would we climb a tree?" He asked, bring her eyes back to his face.

" Besides the dead can't climb." Ava answered the question as if he asked her what color the sky was. Daryl's patience snapped. He jumped up so fast, it startled her and made her fall backwards. He leaned down and grabbed her arm. With a snap, he almost ripped her up. " Hey! That fucking hurts!"

" You're comin with me!" He said as he started tugging her back to his camp.

To his surprise, she didn't even try and fight him. He took long steps, noting how she struggled to keep up with his pace but he didn't stop. He knew how to get answer from a man. He could beat out what he wanted from them but a girl, that was a different story. Rick could get answers from her. She was spying on him and he wanted to know why. He wanted Rick to have his back in case she clamped up on him.

Daryl's fingers were tight against Ava's right arm. She wasn't sure why he was dragging her so fast but she wasn't about to bitch. If he was anything like the jailer, he didn't like complaining. Ava almost stumbled and might have fallen if he hadn't squeezed her and yanked her up. She looked up at him and caught him glancing at her. He looked away and frowned even harder.

A few minutes later they reached the path she had seen him take over and over again. The voices of the group started to come over them. By now she knew them all by heart. Rick and Hershel did most of the talking. Daryl threw in his thoughts every once a while but for the most part he stood beside Rick with his arms crossed over his chest and legs spread apart. He squinted and nodded a lot while they talked. Lori, who Ava figured belonged to Rick talked a lot too. Ava thought she was annoying. The young girl, Beth, hardly spoke at all. Maggie and Glenn stayed glued to each other, T-Dog walked around and Carol followed Daryl. Ava wondered if she was his woman. She wasn't sure because Daryl didn't act like he was her husband or boyfriend.

" Daryl's who's that?" T-Dog asked.

" She's gettin ready to tell us that." Daryl snapped.

The group started to form a circle around their fire pit. Daryl thrust her forward and let go of her arm. Daryl and his group closed ranks around her. Ava started looking from one face to another to another. Her hands were up like she was trying to defend herself from an attack. She was crouched down slightly as if she wanted to run but he knew there was no way she could break through them all.

" Where did you find her?" Carol asked quietly as she came up to Daryl's side and gently touched his arm. He felt his bicep twitch under her. He wished she didn't touch him so much. He didn't like being touched.

" Found her in the woods, watchin us." He almost snarled.

" Miss, you can relax, we won't hurt you." Rick said gently. Her eyes shifted nervously to his face then back to Daryl's.

" How do I know that?" She asked.

" Why the hell you watchin us?" Daryl snapped.

" I told you, I wasn't watching them. I was watching you." Ava said as she looked around her, making sure no one was going to sneak up on her. She had had enough of that.

" Why are you watching Daryl?" Carol asked. Ava rubbed her lips together nervously. She took a deep breath and locked her eyes on him.

" I need him." She said softly. Rick glanced at Daryl but the hunter was staring at the girl.

" What the hell for?" Daryl snapped.

" To save my sister." She said.


	2. Chapter 2

_* Please Review! __**Lucy: **__good luck with school! __**Nymph: **__what can I say that hasn't been said between us, my twin? __**Luvdamon: **__Im working on a where do we go from here part 2. __**Java: **__smart girl! Everyone else who reviewed, followed and favorited: thank you! I'm taking something from Nymph and doing it too because I love it! This Daryl will be like my other Daryls because I write him based on interviews Reedus has given about Daryl's past and personality so yeah, he will be the same as he was before. _

_**Favorite line:**__ Saving her sister won't bring Sophia back_

" Who has your sister?" Rick asked gently.

" I don't know his name." Ava said. " He makes me call him Master but behind his back I call him the Jailer." Daryl's eyes squinted.

" How old is she?" Carol asked. Sophia flashed through her mind with a stab of pain so hard Carol had to close her eyes. Had she cried for her mother when she was bitten? Did she suffer through the sickness and fever wondering why Carol wasn't there for her or did she die right away? Had she been scared or cold and hungry? Those questions would haunt Carol for the rest of her life.

" Twelve." Was the answer Ava gave. Carol opened her eyes and knew they were filled with tears. Daryl was frowning as he stared at Ava. She was staring back at him, her eyes pleading silently with him and he knew it. " Her name is Angel. I'm all she has. I have raised her since she was four. Our parents were killing in a car accident and the state gave me custody of her."

" Why do you think Daryl can help you?" T-Dog asked. She pressed her lips together and briefly closed her eyes. She shook her head then looked back at Daryl.

" The Jailer said he would."

" What does he look like?" Daryl asked.

" He's a little bit taller than you and older. He's big and his voice is raspy. He has this thing on his right arm. He said he's missing his hand and..."

" Fuck." Daryl said.

" It's Merle." Glenn spoke up. Daryl put his hands in his hips and shook his head. His jaw was tight as he looked away from her.

" Why would Merle send her to get you? Why wouldn't he just come for you if he knew where you were?" Rick asked him.

" He doesn't know I found him. He has been sending me into the woods, looking for you." Ava said.

" How did he know Daryl would be in the woods?" Glenn asked.

" Cause that was the plan, our plan." Daryl spoke up. " We made a deal that we'd stay in the woods if we lost each other. He won't come for me on his own. He wants me to go to him. He won't lower himself to come to me."

" You can't go to him." Carol said quickly. A look of panic went over Ava's face.

" He has too! Merle, you called him? He will know I have found Daryl. If I don't bring him back by the end of two weeks, he will hurt her." She said quickly, making Daryl look at her again. He felt torn. His entire life he would have just went to his brother but now...now he wasn't sure what to do. Merle would kill Rick and the group, that much Daryl knew but if he didn't go, Merle would hurt the child. A child. A child as innocent as Sophia had been, as innocent as Daryl, himself, had been at one time.

" Now, Miss, let's just calm down, okay?" Rick said gently.

" You don't understand! He can do some really awful things!" Ava said. Her eyes were darting from Rick to Daryl to Rick again. " Some really awful, horrible things." Daryl eyed her carefully. He did understand and he had to wonder how many of those awful things Merle did to her or to the girl. Age meant nothing to Merle. He won't care that Angel was only twelve. He hadn't cared when Daryl was that age so why would he care about a girl he didn't know?

" Are you trying to say he has done something to you?" Glenn asked. Daryl narrowed his eyes again. Sometimes Glenn just didn't know when to shut his mouth. Ava turned her green eyes on the young man.

" He tried too but he was unable to." She said.

" Why not?" T-Dog asked.

" He's impotent." She said with a definite look on her face and a small lift of her chin. " He seems to think that's my fault and he makes me pay for it but it isn't. There is nothing wrong with me." She snapped.

Daryl knew that was true. Merle had been impotent for years. Daryl was sure it was from his drug use but that didn't stop him from paying for hookers. He'd bring them back to their trailer then get pissed off then they couldn't get him hard. He never accepted that it was his fault. He always beat the hookers for it, some were beaten so bad Daryl had had to sneak them to the hospital. There was no doubt in Daryl's mind that Merle was laying his hands on that girl too. If Daryl didn't go with the girl, Merle would attack her sister.

" Two weeks?" Daryl asked. Ava looked back at him and nodded.

" Why two weeks?" T-Dog asked.

" He found me and convinced me to look for Daryl, he would send me out and not let me back in the clinic for a few days at a time. The longer it has taken me to find him, the longer Merle had made me stay in the woods. I have had to sleep in the woods. Now two weeks have to pass before he would let me back in each time."

" You been watchin for a while. Why ain't you told him about me?" Daryl snapped.

" I...I wanted to know more about you. I wanted to know why he wanted you so bad. I wanted to try and figure you out. I mean, what if I take you to him and you are just like him?" Ava asked. She dropped her eyes from Daryl's face and briefly closed them. " I can't handle two of him." She said softly. Daryl was staring hard at her and found himself swallowing repeated. He knew what was playing through her mind. He knew she was remembering something Merle had done to her. She shook her head, bit down into her bottom lip then looked up at him again. His eyes went to her mouth as her teeth scrapped against her lip. " I just needed to be sure you were different. He promised I'd be free when I brought you home to him but if you are like him, then I wasn't sure you'd let me go. I wasn't sure what you'd do to me."

" I ain't gonna hold you against your will." Daryl said. " I ain't like him. In any ways." He needed to voice that part. He needed the group to hear that. He need her to hear it. He needed to hear it. He need them, and himself, to understand that he maybe Merle's little brother but that didn't mean Daryl was like him.

" When is he expecting you back?" Rick asked.

" Fourteen days. I left the clinic after spending the night and showering. If I try and go back beforehand, his men will shot at me to keep me away." She said.

" What if Daryl is with you?" Rick asked.

" It won't matter. I tried, once to trick the men. I brought them a man, a man I knew wasn't Daryl. He didn't even look how Merle described Daryl to me but I was so hungry. His men let me in and I thought I could grab something to eat and sneak out before Merle saw the guy but..." Her eyes dropped again and Daryl exhaled quietly. " I didn't make it. And Merle was mad that I tried to trick him. Now he refuses to allow me to come in before the send of the fourteen days."

" How did he find you?" T-Dog asked.

" I was hold up in a clinic I found. Like a lot of businesses and houses around here, it was run on generators so it has running water and stuff. There was food there, canned and frozen. I thought I had it sealed up tight but he and his group of men got in. When he first told me I had to go into the woods to find Daryl, I refused but, after a while," Her right hand went to her left shoulder where she started to rub it without thinking. Daryl was sure that under her tee-shirt there would be a bruise. She looked up and met Daryl's eyes right away. " I agreed."

" How did you manage to survie in the woods alone?" Lori asked. Ava looked up at the group members, one by one.

" I can hunt, I mean, I'm not great but I can get what I need. My grandpa lived off the land for years so he taught me a few things." She said. " At night I would climb trees, as high as I could. Those things can't climb. A lot of time they didn't even know I was up there. I learned to sleep sitting up." She said. Rick rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

" Are you hungry now?" He asked. " We don't have a lot of food but you can have some." Ava didn't miss the look Lori sent his way. She did not like the woman.

" No. That's okay. I ate before I left the clinic this morning." She said.

" You can stay with us. There's no need to sleep in the trees." Rick said.

" Thanks." Ava said quietly. She bit into her bottom lip and looked at the ground and Daryl found his eyes focusing on her mouth again. With a grunt he shook his head and turned away.

" Daryl?" Rick called out.

" Goin to hunt for lunch." He said as he walked. Rick looked at T-Dog.

" Watch her." He said before he started after the hunter.

" Watch me? Why do you need to watch me?" Ava asked.

" No offense but we don't know you. We don't know what your game is and we can't afford to go on blind trust." T-Dog said. Carol came forward carefully.

" I had a daughter, about your sister's age." She said.

TWDTWDTWD

" What are you thinking?" Rick asked as he and Daryl made their way through the woods quietly.

" Ain't much to think." Daryl muttered as he looked away.

" Do you believe her?" Rick asked.

" She knows he's missin his hand." Daryl commented.

" Okay, I'll give you that." Rick said. His eyes were moving through the woods, looking for food and walkers alike. " How do we know she isn't working with Merle though?"

" Don't know but I don't think so." Daryl said.

" You mean you trust what she is saying?" Rick asked in surprised.

" I mean I know my brother and I know what he'll do to get what he wants."

" So you want to go after the little girl?" When Daryl didn't comment Rick reached out and grabbed the hunter's wrist, freezing the man's movements.

" Saving her sister won't bring Sophia back." Rick said. Daryl's eyes narrowed down as he yanked away from the former cop who had become Daryl's trusted friend, his first trusted friend.

" I know that." Daryl bit out. " You think I don't know that? Just give me sum time to figure shit out."


	3. Chapter 3

_* Please review! Sorry it took so long for me to post it up, my labtop is acting stupid! _

_Favorite line: Ain't about comfort. It's bout staying alive. *_

The first thing Daryl noticed when he came back to camp was Ava. She was sitting on the log they were using as a bench, staring into the fire. The look on her face was one he knew he had sported a time or two. He knew what was going on in her mind just by that look. She was remembering something Merle had done to her, she had to be.

Ava looked up as soon as Daryl walked in the area. He looked over to Carol then back at Ava. They were both abused women, Carol at the hands on her husband, Ava at the hands of his own brother but they carried their selves completely different, he could see that already. Carol was washing some of the clothes they had raided from the town after they left Hershel's farm. Like always, Carol's shoulders were up and her head was down. Her face was a mask of sadness it always was. She was quiet, borderline pathetic but Daryl had felt a kinship towards her in a way because of the abuse.

While he had watched Ava staring into the fire, her shoulders had been up and filled with tension, just like Carol's had been. Her expression had been pained filled. Her eyebrows drawn together and a small frown had been sporting on her face but the second she saw Daryl, noticed that he was staring at her, her little shoulders went back. The pained expression disappeared. It was replaced with a strong, angry look. Her body went on alert, he could see it. She was ready for an attack at any minute. Carol was ready to take a hit, stay down and cry but Ava. He was guessing Ava was ready to take that same hit but she wouldn't stay down. She would jump up and be in the face of her attacker. When he saw his brother, he expected some marks on him. Daryl was sure she had defended herself against him even though Merle would have won out. He always won out.

" You gonna eat with us?" Daryl asked her. He didn't like having another mouth to feed, another person to drain their meager supplies but in some twisted way, he almost respected Ava.

" No." She said. " I can get my own shit." She almost snapped at him. For someone who needed him, she sure didn't trust him and THAT was something he could really understand. She may need him but she didn't like it and she was going to let that be known.

" Fine by me." He snapped back. She glared at him as he passed her. He felt her eyes on him, even though he had looked away from her. Daryl and Rick made their way to the side of the camp so they could start gutting the game that was slung around Daryl's shoulder. As they reached their spot, T-Dog joined them.

" Something doesn't seem right with that girl." T-Dog said softly. Daryl glanced over his shoulder at Ava. She was staring into the fire again.

" Like what?" Rick asked. Daryl crouched down and unclasped his knife.

" She won't talk to anyone, no matter how hard we have tried." T-Dog said.

" Don't seem wrong to me." Daryl muttered as he started his work. " Takes some people a while to warm up to others."

" Yeah, I get that but...I don't know. I just think we should watch her." T-Dog said.

" Yeah, alright. We'll keep our eyes on her, try and make sure someone can see her at all times. We'll be sharp and on alert. I don't want to take the chance of anyone sneaking up on us." Rick said.

Ava stuck true to her word. When the meat was ready, Ava didn't touch it. She didn't even act like she was hungry. Carol tried to get her to eat, but she refused. She wouldn't drink anything they offered either. Daryl watched her closely, just as closely as she watched him. He was trying to figure her out as she tried to do the same to him.

Around early evening, Ava stood up and started walking towards the woods. An exchanged between Rick and Daryl sent Daryl into the woods after her, with Rick following. He wasn't trying to be sneaky about it. He walked behind her with her sending him looks. After a few minutes, when they were pretty far from the camp, Ava spun around to glare at him.

" Why are you following me?" She asked.

" Just makin sure you ain't plannin to attack my boys and me." Daryl said.

" Why would I attack you? I need you." She frowned and shook her head as she turned around. "Idiot." She muttered as she started walking again.

" Than what the hell are you doin?" He asked, falling right in step behind her.

" I'm getting my own sticks. I'm going to build my own fire for the night." Ava said with a sigh.

" You ain't gonna stay by the camp?" Daryl asked. He watched her while she walked and talked. She was alert, searching carefully around, watching for walkers. She stepped slowly and quietly even though they were talking. Any walkers around would hear their voices but that didn't stop her from trying to be quiet.

" No." Ava said.

" Why not?" Daryl asked.

" I don't want too. I don't know you or them and I don't trust you." She said. Daryl had moved up so close to her back that if he leaned down he could be able to smell her hair. It was tempting.

" You expect me to follow you through the woods to some clinic were my brother is supposedly waitin for me but you don't trust me enough to stay in my camp? That's fuckin stupid." Daryl said.

" Just because I need you doesn't mean I like it or you." Ava said bitterly. Daryl squinted his eyes and frowned. He could actually understand that.

They didn't talk again. He watched as she went about gathering up sticks for her own fire. Her quiver was filled with arrows and her homemade bow. She also had a book bag on her back. As she grabbed the sticks she needed and wanted, she slipped them into her quiver then walked on. A few of the sticks he knew would never light. They were damp from a recent rain but he didn't say anything to her. If he tried to tell her they won't light, she'd pick up more and spend the night trying to prove him wrong. Daryl knew that much because it's what he would do.

Back at the camp, Ava moved as far away as she could from them while still being able to see them. Daryl and the others carefully watched her, trying to make it not so obvious. She arranged her sticks the way she wanted them then took off her quiver and backpack. She took out a pack of matches and stuck one up. When the sticks and leaves didn't light, she frowned harder and shook her head. Daryl watched her try a few more matches before he grabbed some of their drier sticks and started towards her.

Without a word to her, he dropped the sticks down, making her jump up and glare at him with her hands up in a defensive pose. Daryl stared hard at her, knowing his boys were up and watching, waiting to make sure she didn't try anything. While her face was set in a hard, angry look, her eyes told a different story. She was scared. She was breathing hard and her tongue was darting out and over her bottom lip every so often. Yeah, Merle had been at her.

" Ain't gonna hurt you, told you that." Daryl said.

" Then why are you sneaking up behind me?" She hissed.

" Didn't. Just thought you might want some dry wood." He said.

" Get away from me!" Ava said. Daryl frowned but didn't move.

" What you so scared for?" He asked.

" I'm not scared. I just don't like people sneaking up behind me." Ava said.

" Miss, don't you think it would be safer if you stayed with us?" Rick asked as he joined Daryl.

" No." Ava said so simply that Rick was taken back. He put his hands on hips while Daryl crossed his arms over his chest.

" No?" Rick asked.

" No." She said.

" And why's that?" Rick asked.

" In my experience it doesn't matter how many people are around you. You are only safe with yourself." Ava said. Rick sighed as his hands dropped down his hips. They were quiet as they measured each other up. Finally Rick nodded.

" You know where we are if you need us." He said. To his surprise Ava let out a breath he didn't know she had been holding.

" Okay." She said, softly. Rick turned and headed back to his wife and son. Daryl, on the other hand, stared at her. Her eyes went to his face. They stared hard, taking each other in. His eyes flowed over her tiny body. Hers took in his broad chest and toned, tanned arms. " You don't look like the Jailer."

" I ain't like him." Daryl said.

" He's your brother?" She asked.

" That's right." Daryl said. She nodded as a look of pain passed through her eyes. She blinked and looked away from him.

" We'll see." She said. " Now go away. I don't need a babysitter."

" Good cuz I ain't that type." Daryl said as he dropped his arms to his sides. She looked at him as he turned and started back to the group.

Later that evening, Daryl and Rick watched as she grabbed a branch from a nearby tree and pulled herself up. She climbed the tree quickly until she found a wide, strong branch. She placed her back against the main tree trunk and seem to settled in. Ava straddled the branch, crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. Rick shook his head.

" That can't be comfortable." He muttered.

" Ain't about comfort. It's about staying alive." Daryl said. " Slept like that a few times myself."


	4. Chapter 4

_* Please Review! Favorite line: You're lucky you didn't shoot me." Daryl corrected. You ever shoot me, you best pray I'm dead.*_

In the morning, when Daryl woke, he walked out of his tent and threw on his flannel shirt over his wife-beater. He looked up into the tree Ava had been in when he went to bed but found that it was empty. He frowned and started doing his buttons. He glanced around the camp, already knowing he won't find her. She didn't want to be a part of their group and had made that perfectly clear.

" Where is she?" He asked T-Dog.

" I don't know. Rick went to the stream to see if she was there. When we woke up, she was already gone." He said.

Daryl grabbed up his crossbow and slung it around his shoulders, feeling it's comforting weight come to rest against his back. He sighed and started towards the stream. It wasn't very far away from their camp site. He jogged across the road and down the little embankment until the rushing water came into view. Sure enough, she was crouched down at the bank while Rick was standing beside her. He had Shane's shot gun resting against his shoulders. Daryl slowed his steps down to listen to them.

" Your sister, she's twelve you said?" Rick asked. Ava's hands froze under the water.

" Yes." She said. She started washing her hands again.

" She must be scared there without you." Rick commented.

" She's fine. She doesn't get scared anymore." Ava said. She shook her hands and sat back. She put her back pack in front of her and opened it up.

" Yeah, I guess this world will toughen you up." Rick said as his eyes scanned the woods in front of them. She nodded as she took out her toothbrush and toothpaste.

" Guess so." Ava said.

" I see it happening every day to my son, Carl." Ava glanced at his legs then back as she readied her toothbrush. " It's so hard to see him changing, you know. I mean, I remember how things were when I was young and it will never be like that for him."

" Not anymore." She said. She quickly started brushing her teeth.

" No, not anymore. I remember this one time, when Carl was real little, like five, and he told me he wanted to be a garage man." Rick laughed a little at the memory. " Most little kids wanted to be firefighters or cowboys but not Carl. He wanted to be a garage man." Ava leaned to the side and spit on the ground then wiped her mouth. She dipped her toothbrush into the stream and shook it.

" Angel wanted to be a nurse." She said quietly as she stared out across the water. Rick smiled and looked down at her.

" A nurse. See now that is a normal for a girl but a garage man?" Rick asked with a small chuckle. Ava put her toothbrush away and zipped up her bag. She slung it over her shoulder and stood up to look at him.

" Kids get crazy ideas." She said. " But none of that matters for Angel anymore." Rick's smile faded.

" Yeah, I guess you're right about that." Rick said as they stared at each other. " Doesn't matter for Carl either." Ava briefly closed her eyes as she swallowed hard. With a shake of her head, she looked back at him.

" He could still be a garage man." She said. Daryl frowned at her comment.

" Angel could still be a nurse." Rick said. Ava looked away from him.

" Yeah." She said before she started to walk away. " Right." Daryl heard her mutter as she walked past the tree he was hiding behind. Daryl watched as she made her way over the embankment. When she has disappeared from sight, he turned and stepped out from behind the tree.

" Well, I got her to talk, at least a little bit." Rick said as he made his way towards the hunter.

_Flashback:_

_" Is it safe?" Angel asked weakly as she clung to her sister's back._

_" I don't know. We are going to go in, find a place for you to hide, then I'll check everything out. Just be quiet, okay?" Ava whispered._

_" I'm scared." The little girl whispered._

_" I know, me too." Ava whispered. _

_She opened the door to the clinic and looked inside. When she didn't see anything, the girls walked in. Ava took out an arrow and readied it with her bow, They crept through the big room with their eyes darting back and forth. After finding a storage closet, Ava stashed Angel then made her way around the clinic. Thankfully it was completely walker free. Ava locked up the doors and checked all the windows then went back to her tiny baby sister. _

_" Come on, Ang. Let's get you cleaned up." She said when she opened the closet door. _

_Angel followed Ava towards one of the beds in the clinic. She climbed up and linked her ankles together. Ava gathered up a few bandages, tape and sterile water. She walked back over to the bed and smiled down at the little. trusting green eyes that were staring up at her. There was eighteen years between the sisters but they completely loved each other._

_" Let's just clean this up, okay?" She said. _

_" Is it going to hurt?" Angel asked._

_" It might but we have to clean it, okay?" Ava said. _

_Angel whined as Ava cleaned the wound with the water. Lucky for them it wasn't deep. Ava had been able to strike before any real damage could be done. Ava applied some ointment after she was sure it was cleaned then wrapped the small arm up. She smiled down at her sister, helped her to the floor and the sisters started towards the little kitchen area to find something to eat._

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Daryl's eyes were squinting, his usual expression, as he watched Ava. She had moved away from the camp to hunt for her own breakfast and hadn't realized he was following her. Now her back was against a tree, her bow and arrow were forgotten, sitting against her leg, and she was covering her face. Her shoulders were shaking and he could hear her crying. Her careful, hard ass attitude crumbled and he had to wonder was that Merle's fault or was it something else.

" I'm sorry, Angel." He heard her sob out. " I'm so sorry." She shook her head and dropped her hands. She quickly wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands. Daryl placed his left hand on the tree trunk as he crouched down and continued to watch her. " Okay. Okay, time to suck it up." Ava gave herself a hard shake then laughed. " And now I'm talking to myself." She leaned down and grabbed her bow and arrow. Without another word, she started hunting.

Daryl made sure he kept a good distance between them as he followed her. She was right, she wasn't a great hunter but she was better than he thought she would be. She tracked the squirrels in the trees and took aim but missed a few of her shots. She cursed at herself, collected her arrows then started again until she grabbed one.

" Yes! Fuck you, Squirrel!" She cheered herself. " I am the queen of the squirrels!" She said as she yanked her arrow out of the squirrel.

" You ain't..." Ava screamed and threw an arrow towards Daryl as he stepped out from behind a tree. He frowned as the arrow hit his chest and fell to the ground.

" What the fuck are you doing!" She yelled. " You're lucky I didn't shoot you!"

" You're lucky you didn't shoot me." Daryl corrected. " You ever shoot me, you best pray I'm dead."

" What do you want?" She snapped. Her body was tense and ready to strike if she needed too.

" I'm huntin, same as you but I ain't gonna get any big game with you out here yellin. What the fuck is a squirrel queen?" Ava tilted her head slightly a second before she surprised Daryl by busting into laughter. She bent over with her hands on her knees and laughed so hard that Daryl put his hands on his hips and frown. " What the hell are you laughin at?" He snapped. Ava shook her head and held up one hand.

" Nothing." She said as she laughed. " Nothing at all." She snatched up her dead squirrel and started pass him.

" Where you goin?" Daryl snapped.

" Back to my camp." Ava said. Daryl kept his frown as he started after her.

" You don't need to be comin out here alone. Ain't safe." He said.

" I have been wandering through these words by myself for a while. I'll be fine." She said.

" Maybe so but you get a bite and come back to my group then you gonna infect us all." He muttered as they walked. Ava stopped walking and faced him with her head tilted to the right.

" Is that what does it? Is it a bite that turns them?" She asked. Daryl stopped walking so he was only an arms length away from her.

" Thought as much. Saw a couple of our group get bit then turn but a doctor at the CDC told us we're all infected." Daryl said. Ava sighed as her shoulders fell. " But you get a bite, ain't no helpin you."

" So it wouldn't matter much you cleaned it or how many pills you took, if one of those things bite you, you're good as dead?" She asked softly.

" Seems bout right." He said as he nodded.

Another look of pain went over her face before she was able to lock it down. She gave him her back and started walking again. Daryl fell into step behind her. He watched how she walked and moved. More like he watched her ass. He narrowed his eyes but didn't take them away from her jean clad ass. He squeezed his hands into fists. He brought them up and gripped the strap of his cross bow as his tongue swept out and over his bottom lip. He wanted groan, or growl. He shifted his hips while they walked, angry at his dick for growing hard. With his right hand, he quickly reached down and readjusted himself.

Man, he needed sex but he knew the chances of him getting it were down to zero. He had no game when it came to women and he knew it. Before the world went to hell he had a hard time with women. He was awkward and strange with girls. He didn't want them to see his chest and stomach. He didn't want anyone to know about the scars he had earned in childhood. The few times in his life he had gotten laid, it had been with clothes on, in his truck or against a wall at whatever bar he had been at. It wasn't that he didn't like or want sex. There wasn't a man in the world that didn't want to get off but if he jerked off than he didn't have to worry about his fucked up chest. But it had even been a while since he had done that.

Now, thanks to this stupid bitch, he knew he'd been rubbing one out later that day.


	5. Chapter 5

_* Please Review! Favorite line: We gonna have a talk, you and me.*_

Daryl watched as Ava readied her game for her fire. Her hands worked fast. Her knife wiped around the dead animal as she worked. Daryl narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Yeah, he needed to jack off and fast. Seeing a woman who knew how to handle a knife and didn't mind getting bloody was better porn to him. Watching her was like watching porn, only better because it was real. He turned from the scene and hurried to his tent. He's just shut himself up for the few minutes it was going to take him to give himself some relief.

TWDTWDTWD

Carefully, cautiously, Maggie and Glenn made their way to Ava. She was sitting on the ground with her legs spread and her catch between them. She knew they were coming to talk to her. Every single person in the group had tried to get her to speak, even one but the leader's wife and for that, Ava was grateful. She didn't her.

" Ava, right?" Glenn asked gently. She sighed but didn't answer.

" Sure is a pretty name." Maggie said. " Mind if we sit with you?"

" Still a free country." Ava said without looking up.

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Daryl laid down on his looted sleeping back and undid his zipper, almost in anger. Sometimes he hated his dick. He pulled it out of his boxers and closed his eyes. He knew he wasn't in danger of anyone coming. No one came into Daryl's tent without his permission and he had everything closed up. All the windows and the tent door were closed so no one could see him. He sighed and gripped himself hard, almost roughly as if he could teach his dick a lesson about getting hard. In his mind, Ava popped up right away.

" No." He muttered with his voice rough and a quick shake of his head. " Not her." He told himself.

He tried to think back to one of the porns that Merle had, one with two girls together. Daryl remembered how one girl, a blond, had her face buried in between the legs of a dark haired girl. The dark haired one was gripping the blond and moaning with her head back. That was one of his favorites because it seemed real. The girl seemed to like it. It wasn't like some of the other porns he had seem where the girls were clearly faking it.

TWDTWDTWD

" So you must know these woods pretty good." Glenn said.

" I know them a bit." Ava said as she tossed the meat into a little pan she had with her.

" Have you seen a lot of walkers?" Glenn asked. He and Maggie had taken seats on the ground beside her.

" What?" Ava asked as she finally looked at him. " What did you call them?"

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Sometime during the middle of his alone time his fantasy changed. Gone was the little blond. She was replaced by Daryl. He was one the his knees in between the other girl's legs. He was the one driving her crazy, just like he had always imagined himself doing but hadn't really done before. The dark haired girl, she changed too. Gone was her pale, ghost like skin. Gone was her harsh features. They were replaced by tan skin, skin that had been out in the woods for hours, days on end. Her face was now soft, delicate and very feminine. In fact, she looked like...he refused to knowledge who she looked like. All he cared about was how her small hands would be buried in his hair. They would pull at him. She would scrap her nails across his scalp as she arched her back up, loving what HE was doing to her, how HE was making her feel.

" Daryl." She would whispered. Her voice. It sounded just like Ava's.

" Ah fuck." Daryl whispered as his own back arched. His left hand pumped harder while his right one pulled at his sleeping back. Yeah, this was what he needed. This felt good, too good. His balls were already pulling up and he was ready to blow. He reached the head of his dick, passed over it and squeezed before he made his way back down himself.

TWDTWDTWD

" Walkers." Ava said. " I guess that sort of suits them. That's what they do. They just walk and walk, never getting tired." She looked back to her pan and started to stir the meat to ensure it was thoroughly cooked. She leaned early on that under cooked squirrel meat was awful.

" Yeah, that's why we decided to call them that." Glenn said. She nodded. Maybe the kid wasn't as stupid or childish as she had thought he was.

" There isn't a lot of them around here." She said. " So I don't think you have to worry. It's been a while since I last saw one. Every one I have seen seem to be heading in the same direction. North."

" Yeah, we were staying at a farm, it was actually Maggie, Hershel, and Beth's farm when a hoard of walkers came on us. We had to leave. That's how we ended up here." Glenn explained.

" Yeah, I noticed that when they meet up, they seem to stay together for some reason." Ava said.

TWDTWDTWD

" Ah fuck." Daryl whispered again as he started to cum. He pictured Ava's orgasm and it triggered his. He pictured her moaning his name and gripping him, wanting him closer to her and loving what he was doing to her. Hot burst of semen pumped out of him, covering his hand and slipping onto his bare stomach. Daryl's head went back as his knees bent and his legs open. His hips came up " Ah fuck." He groaned. Why the hell did jerking off have to feel so good?

TWDTWDTWD

" So your sister, are you worried about her?" Maggie asked. Ava leaned forward and stirred the meat again.

" She's safe where she is." She said quietly. Now she was ready for them to leave.

" Safe with Merle?" Glenn shook his head. " I don't think those two words belong together."

" I'm not worried about her right now." Ava said as something across the camp caught her attention. Daryl was coming out of his tent, wiping his hands on a red rag. He looked up at her and frowned. He tucked the rag into his back, right pocket. He looked angry and his cheeks were flushed, even though it wasn't very hot that day.

" I'd worrying like crazy if I wasn't with my sister. I'd go crazy wondering what was happening to her." Maggie commented as she stared into Ava's fire. Ava dropped her eyes from Daryl's intense stare and focused on what she was cooking. His eyes were so bright and blue that it almost unnerved her. They were so different from Merle's. The older Dixon's eyes were hazy almost all the time. Daryl's, on the other hand, were clear and beautiful.

" What does Merle want with Daryl?" Glenn asked.

" I didn't ask." Ava muttered, making Glenn and Maggie look at each other.

" What's his brother like?" Maggie asked to Glenn.

" Racist and drugged up." He answered.

" He isn't much different now." Ava commented. " I tried to lock up all the drugs when he started asking about them but he found them." And he had been pissed at her for hiding them. She paid for what she had done but she hadn't gone down with a fight.

Daryl was angry as he stormed around the camp site. In his tent, when he was alone, he had tried had to not think about the stupid bitch just sitting across the way but she crept into his mind anyway. Yeah, it felt good, just like jerking off and getting off always did, but now that he had to look at her...fuck her. How dare she interrupt him during his time. He didn't get much time alone to take care of himself and now she had gone and ruined it for him.

" Daryl?"

" What!" He barked as he spun around to face Carol. She took a step back and frowned. Daryl put his hands on his hips and waited for her to speak, apart of him was feeling bad for yelling at her.

" You're going with her, aren't you? You're going to help her little girl?" Carol asked. Daryl frowned and narrowed his eyes.

" Don't know yet." He answered. " Why?"

" You have too. You have to save her." She said. Daryl's arms dropped as his chest deflated. He stared hard at the woman who looked up at him like he was her savior. " She's the same age as Sophia."

" She ain't her though." He said.

" I know that but in small way, it will be like we were able to help my little girl." Carol said. " Maybe you should spend some time with Ava. I have the feeling Merle really hurt her. She should know you are different from him."

" Told her as much besides, what do I care is she believes me or not?" Daryl snapped.

" I just think you two have something in common." Carol said softly. Daryl looked back at Ava then at Carol again. He frowned and shook his head.

" Just leave me be." He muttered as he walked away.

Daryl stalked quietly through the woods, keeping Ava in his sights as she ate quietly. Glenn and Maggie had left her campfire so she was completely alone. She had her meat on a small plate and was picking at it, eating small pieces and glancing at up the group. Was she looking for him or just looking in general? Why did he care about who she was looking at? Angrily he came through the woods and didn't stop until he reached her. She jumped as he came through the bush. She dropped her plate and spring up, ready to fight if need be.

" What do you want!" She snapped.

She looked strong, fierce almost. Her arms were tight, her legs seemed ready to spring into action but her eyes, it was her eyes that gave away her fear. She was terrified but she wasn't going to let that fear rule her. Daryl frowned and stop walking. They stared at each other for a few tense moments, both trying to get a read on each other.

" I said.."

" I know what you said." Daryl stopped her. " I can hear."

" Daryl!" Rick called out as he started towards them.

" We're fine!" He called back without looking away from her. " We gonna have a talk, you and me."

" About what?" She asked.

" About my brother and you." He said as he started to glare.


	6. Chapter 6

_* Please Review!*_

Ava sat across her fire from Daryl. He was leaning forward with his forearms resting on his knees. She wanted to fidget under his stare. His mouth was set and hard. The group members were milling around. Some were watching nervously, others staring openly. She swallowed hard and prayed he didn't notice. If Merle saw she was nervous, well it never ended well.

" What's he using?" Daryl finally asked.

" Everything." Ava said. " The clinic has all sorts of pills."

" You fight him back?" Daryl asked. Ava frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. She sat back and looked away from him.

" I don't know what you're talking about." She muttered.

" Yes, you do." Daryl said.

His voice was low and his eyes were narrowed. She shook her head and he knew just what she was doing. She wanted to pretend like the beatings hadn't been happening and he couldn't blame her for that. Ava swallowed and closed her eyes. To his surprise, a tear started down her cheek. She angrily wiped it away before she looked back at him.

" What's it matter to you?" She snapped.

" Because I need to know what state he's gonna be in when I see him." Daryl said. Ava looked away with a frown. Her chin quivered a second before she locked it in tight. She recrossed her arms and cleared her throat.

" He's...ah..." she cleared her throat again and looked back at him. " he's using pills. He crushes them up and snorts them."

" What ones?" Daryl asked.

" Oxy. It seems to be his favorite ones." Ava answered.

" He hittin your sister?" Daryl asked. Ava tilted her head at the change in his voice. It was softer. Some of the hardness around his eyes seemed to leak away.

" No." She said.

" How many times he tried to get after you?" Ava blushed and narrowed her eyes.

" Enough times." She answered.

" He ain't gonna stop." He said. Ava drew in a breath.

" Why does he want you so bad?" She asked.

" He's my brother." Was the only answer Daryl gave.

" Well he let me go or will he leave when we go back?" Ava asked. Daryl's eyes briefly narrowed before he sighed.

" I don't know." He admitted honestly. Ava looked away from him and crossed her arms. She uncrossed them and repositioned her legs. She shook her head.

" I can't stay there with him. I won't. I refused." She admitted quietly when she looked back at Daryl.

" I know." He said. " You want us to help you, to protect you?"

" I don't need protection." She snapped.

" Yes, you do. Merle ain't gonna let you or that girl go. You need all of us." Daryl said. And she knew it. He knew she did. " You want the help than you got to join the group." It sounded strange coming from him. Daryl never thought he would be the one trying to talk someone into joining them.

The group was surprised when Daryl started walking towards them with Ava trailing behind him. He kept glancing back at her then at the group with his head partially down. Her fingers were trailing along her shirt's edge. She was nervous. Meeting new people hadn't worked out well for her since the outbreak. Even though she had watched them for a while, it didn't mean she trusted them.

" Girl's joinin us. She needs a place to sleep." Daryl said.

" You can share my tent." Carol offered. Daryl turned to the side and looked at Ava with his hands low on his hips. He was staring, again.

" Ah, okay." She said.

" Come on, let's put your bag away." Carol said as she took Ava's arm.

Ava let Carol lead her away and towards her tent. Lori, who had her hands in her pockets came up to Rick as he stood by Daryl. Both men were watching Ava and Carol. Lori looked back at the women then at the men again. Daryl was staring hard at Ava, harder than Lori had seen him stare before. She took a hold of Rick's arm and tugged it.

" Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked quietly.

" Sure." Rick said as he let his wife led him away.

" Do you really think it's a good idea to bring her into us? We are barely surviving as it is." She snapped.

" She's here regardless if she is sleeping around us or not." Rick said.

" She's going to use up our supplies." Lori said.

" She ain't gonna use up nothin." Daryl snapped, making both Rick and Lori look at her. " She's smart. She'll get her own food and the water's just over there."

TWDTWDTWD

" So I have plenty of blankets and pillows, you can use whatever you want." Carol said when they walked into her tent.

" Where did you get all this?" Ava forced herself to ask.

" We raided the town for supplies." Carol said. " We have some canned foods, medical supplies and bottled water."

" Well you don't need bottle water. There a fresh water river not far from here. You could wash your clothes and stuff there and get water from the stream over the road." Ava said.

" There's a fresh water river around here? You should show Daryl and Rick. We could use that water." Carol said. Ava nodded.

" Okay." She said. She slipped off her quiver and back pack. Slowly she let them come to rest on the ground inside the tent.

" When Daryl brings back your little sister, you can come back to us. You can stay with us. There's safety in numbers." Carol said gently, making Ava look at her.

" Do you really believe that?" Ava asked. " Because when I wasn't with a group of people, when it was just Angel and I, we were safe. Then I met a group of people, Merle and his men, and everything changed for me."

TWDTWDTWD

" The river is only about a two mile hike." Ava said as she walked through the woods with Rick and Daryl at her back. " I'm surprised you didn't find it." She threw the comment back to Daryl.

" Tried not to go to far from the group." Daryl muttered as he looked around. His cross bow was loaded and ready to go, just in case.

" Oh yeah, your whole safety in numbers bullshit." Ava said.

" It ain't bullshit." Daryl said.

" Right." She said as she rolled her eyes.

" You don't believe it?" Rick asked as he came up to her side.

" No." Ava said with a shake of her head. " I like I told that Carol, my sister and I were doing just fine on our own. I met Merle and his men, well there was no safety after that." She said. Rick grabbed her arm carefully. He just meant to slow her pace so he could talk to her and make her look at him but Ava cried out like he had stabbed her. She wrenched away from him and glared as she rubbed her arm. Daryl frowned but Rick put his hands up.

" What's wrong with your arm?" Daryl asked. She looked at him as his arms tighten on his crossbow.

" I haven't been bit." She snapped.

" If you don't mind, we'd like to check." Rick said. Ava shook her head as she backed away from them.

" No." She said as her hands went up in her defense.

" Ava, we need to make sure our people are safe." Rick said gently as they started to close in on her.

" Stay away from me." She said while she shook her head.

" Push up your sleeve." Daryl ordered with his cross aimed at her.

" No." She snapped.

" If you just let us see..." Rick started.

" No!" Ava yelled.

But neither men was going to take a chance of her turning on them. They had come to far, fought to hard to let someone they took in take them down. Both sprung at once and Ava didn't have a shot in hell. She screamed and tried to jump away but Rick and Daryl grabbed her. Daryl caught her around her waist. She fought, kicked and tried to punch them but Daryl pinned her to the ground but sitting on her and locking down her left arm while Rick started pushing up her sleeve.

" NO! Get off me!" Ava screamed as she tried to twist away from Daryl. Her legs were kicking as she continued to fight.

" Just hold still! We ain't gonna hurt you, none!" Daryl snapped. " Stop fuckin screamin!" As her sleeve went higher and higher dark black and blue marks started to show. She screamed louder and started fighting harder.

" What the hell happen to you?" Rick breathed out. Daryl frowned. There wasn't just bruising on her, there were cut marks too. Rick's hands slipped from her but Daryl didn't move. He was staring at her exposed skin. He knew what happen to her, all to well.

" What the hell happen to your face!" Ava spit out. She looked at Daryl and hit him in the chest with her now free hand. " Get off me!" Daryl started to stand, knowing the embarrassment she was feeling. She started backing away from them as she struggled to stand.

" Ava, " Rick started softly.

" Fuck you! I told you I hadn't been bit but you just had to check, didn't you!" She yelled as she picked up a small rock and threw it at him. Tears will slipping down her face but she didn't even notice. She was too angry.

" Ava, I'm sorry." Rick said.

" Fuck you and fuck your group." She snapped as she yanked her sleeve down. " Stay away from me." She was backing away from them with her chest heaving hard. " I'm done with this shit." She turned and hurried away from them. She went a few steps before she started running.


	7. Chapter 7

_* Please Review! I'm sorry I'm not updating quickly like I usually do. I'm having serious computer issues. Stupid viruses*_

Rick and Daryl made their way back to the camp without speaking to each other. Daryl's childhood was flashing through his mind, pissing him off more and more. Rick was unsure of what to say. It didn't take long for the group members to see that Rick and Daryl were coming back alone. Lori frowned and walked over to Rick who was rubbing the back of his neck. Carol looked upset as she hurried to Daryl.

" What happen? Where's Ava?" Lori asked.

" She ran off." Rick said as he shook his head.

" What did you mean she ran off?" Carol asked quickly.

" Girl got pissed." Daryl muttered as he side stepped Carol. " She'll be back."

" How do you know?" Carol asked.

" She left her shit here, didn't she?" Daryl snapped.

" Where are you going? Are you going to look for her?" Carol asked.

" No. She's grown. She can do what she wants." Daryl snapped as he hurried into the woods.

But he was going to look for her. He didn't know why but he was looking for her. He waited until he was far enough from the camp then he turned and started back towards the direction of the river. He was mad. He was mad at her and mad at Merle. Why the hell did Merle have to keep beating up on people? Why the hell did he pick on Ava, a five foot nothing girl? Daryl knew the answer, because Merle thought she won't, or couldn't, fight back. That was why he had always picked on Daryl and when Daryl had gotten big enough to defend himself, he just hadn't. He had just let Merle continue to smack him around.

He moved around the river and through the woods for three hours before a splash sound pulled at his attention. He crouched down and slowed his steps with his cross bow up. He watched and waited as he grew closer to the shore. There were ripples across the surface so Daryl know that something had either fallen in or jumped in.

Ava's head popped up a second later. She sighed as the cold water washed the sweat and heat of the day off her skin. She started swimming towards the shore. The water felt good across her sore body and the bruises on her. With a sigh she stood up as soon as she could touch the bottom. She looked down at her bare legs and shook her head.

Daryl held his breath and squinted his eyes as he took her in. She was still wearing her white, thin, long sleeve shirt but she had taken her jeans off. Her nipples are tight from the cold water and showing straight through the shirt. Her panties were black and looked like tight shorts. He wanted growl at the sight before him. He was hard, again. Daryl's teeth smashed together as he watched her raise her arms up to gather her hair. His eyes went down her body as her shirt rode up and showed off her tummy...and the bruises on her legs. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

Ava sighed loudly and tilted her head up towards the sky. She closed her eyes and let the sounds of the woods over take her. It wasn't a safe move, and she knew it, but what did it matter anyway. She didn't have her bow and arrows. If a walker came on her now, she was as good as gone and she wasn't sure she cared anymore. Her shoulders fell at the same time her head did. She opened her eyes and pushed up the sleeves of her shirt. She looked over her arms and slowly shook her head. She looked down at herself and pulled up her shirt so only her breasts were covered.

Snap.

Ava's head snapped up at the same time she dropped her shirt. She snatched up her jeans and shoes, ready to take off running if it was a walker. Yeah, she didn't want to die but she knew that suddenly. If she really wanted to die, she wouldn't be defending herself against Merle, the Jailer. Ava held her breath as she watched and waited but what came out of the woods was not a walker.

" What, the fuck, are you doing?" Ava snapped at Daryl.

" Nothin. Lookin for you." He snapped. " Get the fuck dressed. Ain't safe to be swimmin around, half naked. What the hell is wrong with you?"

" Then turn around." Ava said. Daryl frowned but did as she said. " How long have you been hiding at there?" When he didn't answer, they both knew. They both knew just what he had seen. Ava blushed and hurried to slip on her jeans. Her bra was next.

" Hurry the hell up!" Daryl muttered as his eyes scanned the woods.

" Shut up!" Ava snapped. Merle would say someone needed to teach her how to use her mouth. Daryl felt his shoulders roll forward. He was sure Merle had already tried to teach her and failed. " You can turn around now." She said. When he did, he saw her she was sitting down, putting her shoes on and frowning at him.

" Why the hell you run off like that?" He snapped. Ava dropped her eyes but the scowl on her face remained.

" None of your business." She said. Daryl stared hard as she fumbled with her laces. What the hell was he supposed to say to her?

" Merle did all that to you." It was a statement. Her hands stilled but she didn't look up at him. He could see her staring at her shoe so he added quietly, " I recognize his work." Ava blinked then raised her head up to look at him. He was standing with his legs spread, his hands gripping his crossbow straps and a hard look on his face. He looked dominating, like he owned the woods behind him.

" You have seen him do this to someone else?" She asked. The look of pain on her face made it hard for him to breath.

" Yeah." Daryl said. His right hand opened but didn't move from his strap. His fingers drummed against his chest, making her eyes widen.

" But you're his brother." She said.

" Don't matter none to Merle." Daryl said. She nodded then went back to working on her laces. They were quiet for a few minutes. He watched her as she finished up then he moved to her side. To her surprise, Daryl sat down. He stretched his legs out and crossed them at his ankles. He leaned back with his palms supporting his weight. " Started when I was young." She couldn't look at him and that was fine by him. He wasn't looking at her.

" Why did he do it?" She asked.

" He was drunk. He was high. He was bored. My daddy and him used to take turns." Daryl said. Ava closed her eyes as he finally spared a quick glance at her. Her wet hair was clinging to her back and shoulders.

" No one has ever done anything like this to me before." She admitted. She shook her head and opened her eyes, forcing him to look away from her. " I mean, I had a boyfriend push me once but that was it. I broke up with him and it was over. I...I don't know how to handle this and I feel like it's my fault. Like I should be stronger and not let him do this to me."

" You fight back." Daryl commented.

" I did, every time he came for me. His group, the other men that are with him, they would stand around and watch. They would cheer like it was a game or a sport." Ava spit out. Daryl wasn't surprise. Merle liked others to see him fight. He felt it made him look like a bad ass.

" When did he start cuttin you?" Either one would look at the other.

" Not until this last time. I think he suspects that I found you. I kept telling him I didn't know where you were while we fought. He threw me against a door and that was when he cut my arm. At first I didn't feel the pain. I just felt the blood coming down my arm." And Angel had gone crazy, almost screaming and reaching for her. " Then the pain hit. I was distracted by it and that was when he cut my leg." She said.

Both fell silent for a few minutes. Daryl was thinking about some of the times Merle and their daddy had made him bleed. They never used knives on him, cords, belts, yes but never knives. He had been whipped and hit with whatever the men could get their hands on. Ava was thinking about her last fight. She had kicked Merle in the ribs with the men cheering. Merle had grabbed his side and gritted his teeth to her.

" I'm sorry." Daryl frowned and looked at her away.

" For what?" He asked. She sighed as she met his eyes.

" For telling you and your group to fuck off." She said. Daryl nodded and looked away again.

" Can't say I haven't wanted to say that myself a few times." He admitted, making her laugh. Her laugh was soft and, almost refreshing.

" So can I ask you something?" Ava asked.

" What?"

" Why don't you sleep with your girlfriend?" Daryl's scowl was hard while he shook his head.

" Ain't got a girlfriend." It was Ava's turn to frown.

" Carol isn't your girlfriend?"

" Hell no. I just look after her. Her little girl, well I went lookin for her when she went missin. We found her as a walker. She ain't got anyone else." Daryl said.

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Ava walked beside Daryl as they made their way back to the camp. Neither one was talking. They had said enough between the two of them and they both knew it. They had opened up just enough to make each other feel more comfortable. He was getting a better look at who she was, she understood he knew what she was thinking and how she was feeling. He could connect to her through Merle and that connection, while a shitty one, made her feel better about joining them. If anyone could get her, it was Daryl. They might never talk about it again but it made her feel better that he knew what she went through.

As they walked into the camp, Rick quickly joined them but everyone was watching from their spots. Ava was nervous right away and took a step back. Daryl's elbow brushed against her shoulder, making her look up at him. She expected him to be staring down at her. He was a starer but he was squinting at Rick. Did he do that on purpose? Was he silently offering her comfort?

" I need to say I'm sorry to all of you." Ava said. She cleared her throat and tried to meet all their eyes, one by one. " I was rude and mean but that's not me. That's not the person I was before the outbreak and I'm sorry. I was raised better than that."

" It's fine. I think the outbreak has changed us all." Rick said. " Glad to have you back." Ava nodded and forced a small smile.


	8. Chapter 8

_* Please Review! Where did everyone go? Hardly anyone has been reviewing.*_

Ava followed behind Daryl through the woods as they hunted for dinner. He was alert. He was tight. He was ready for anything. She watched how his head turned slowly from one side to the next. He looked into the trees and down around the ground. He was a better hunter than Ava but she knew that already. She had seen him hunting when she watched him before. She had ever learned how to tighten up her hunting skills up from him.

Daryl whistled low and hitched his head to one side. Ava came up to his right side as he pointed into the trees. Ava readied an arrow and brought her bow up. But before she could take proper aim, Daryl moved into her. He set his crossbow down and took a hold of her arms. Ava tensed up and held her breath. If Daryl knew she was panicking, he didn't let on. He repositioned her arms then leaned down to her.

" Keep your arms steady. Don't take your eyes off the game. Don't hold your breath when you fire. You can't wait to long either." He whispered.

Ava did as he ordered. She let her breath out slowly and stared at the squirrel in the tree. Daryl had stepped back from her but she could still feel the heat of his body and skin against her. She could almost still feel his hands on her arms. They were rough and strong. Ava closed her eyes, inhaled and mentally yelled at herself. She didn't need to think about how he felt touching her. A whoose of air went past her, making her jump and open her eyes as the squirrel fell from the tree branch.

" Ain't no wonder you're so damn small. Take to long to fire one off. Told you not to wait." Daryl muttered as he breezed pass her. Ava blushed.

" I'm sorry." She said, following after him.

" Ain't got to be sorry. Don't have time for it. We got a group to fed, come on." He said.

" I just didn't expect you to touch me." Ava admitted. Daryl stopped walking and turned to face her. " I..." Her voice dropped off but she didn't need to say anything, he understood. He didn't like to be touched either. Well, that wasn't completely true. Sometimes he wanted to be touched but he would never ask for it. That was what pussies did. A pussy admitted to wanting to be touched and Daryl was no pussy.

" Ain't gonna hurt you." He snapped before he turned away. He didn't mean to snap at her, it just came out that way. It actually annoyed him that she didn't want him to touch her and Daryl wasn't sure why.

They stayed in the woods, hunting until Daryl felt they had enough food. They didn't talk anymore but they did steal glances at each other. He hadn't been that close to anyone in a long time. Being that up close and personal with her was having an effect on him and he wasn't sure he liked it. He wasn't sure he liked how soft her skin felt against his. He wasn't sure he liked how good her hair smelled.

Now that was just a down right lie and he knew it. He did like how her skin felt and how her hair smelled. He hadn't been able to touch that many girls so touching her was something else, something special. It almost seemed like it should be against whatever law still existed. She was soft, he was rough. Daryl groaned and shook his head to clear his thoughts.

" Is something wrong?" Ava asked him. Daryl looked down at her quickly, completely forgetting that she had been beside him.

" No." He growled out. She stayed quiet the rest of the way back to camp.

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As Ava paid more attention to everyone she could see how truly different Daryl was from Merle and that made her relax more. She had watched him before but she realized she hadn't actually seen him for what Daryl really was. She had been to angry with herself and Merle to really notice how Daryl was. With the group, he was helpful in a quiet sort of way. Without being asked or talking to anyone, he'd toss a log on the fire to keep it going. He readied the meat for dinner and lunch. He took turns watching the woods. Merle did nothing but try and hurt her.

Daryl watched Ava out of the of the corner of his eye. She was warming up to the group. She offered up small smiles and even made a few comments when people talked to her. She helped with cooking and promised to take the women to the river the next day. The women were excited to wash up and do some laundry. They decided to use the river for bathing and washing and the steam for drinking water because the stream flowed into the river.

By full night fall she was smiling more with the group. She was sitting in between Maggie and Carol but was across from Daryl. Even though it was night time, he was still looking at her through narrowed eyes. She would look away from Maggie or Carol and glance at him but not hold his eyes for long. Daryl wanted to look away from her but couldn't. She was so small that he couldn't imagine Merle pounding into her like Daryl knew he had. Merle wouldn't give her a break because of her size and since she fought back, Merle would have just tried harder to break her. The fact that she hadn't was sort of a turn on for Daryl. Well that and the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about what she looked like when she stood up in the river with her nipples as hard as rocks.

" What is your sister like?" Carol asked. Ava looked up as all eyes settled on her. She dropped her eyes back down and started to fidget. She swallowed then cleared her throat.

" She's just like every other girl her age. She loved Justin Beiber and Britney Spears. Her favorite color was purple. When we moved into my new house, we painted her room purple." Ava looked up at the fire and smiled at the memory. Daryl frowned as he took in her expression. She looked soft. The fire made her skin glow.

" My little girl, Sophia, she loved yellow." Carol said quietly. Ava nodded.

" On Christmas morning we would have cinnamon french toast because that's what our mom used to make me when I was little. After our parents died I wanted to keep things normal for her so I started making it. She loved french toast. I think it was what she missed the most actually." Ava said. " Well that and Justin Beiber." Ava said with a small laugh. " She was sure he made it through. I'm not so convinced. I'm pretty sure Britney lived though." Daryl frowned harder. He didn't even know who those people were.

" Really? You think Britney lived?" Maggie asked as they looked at each other.

" Well yeah. I think she's mostly made out of plastic so the walkers won't want to eat her." She said. There was a second were the girls just stared then they bust into laughter, making the other group members smile or laugh themselves. Daryl squinted his eyes. Her laugh was nice. With a low grumble Daryl shook his head. No, there was no room in this new world for nice laughter.

" You might have a point with that." Maggie said.

With that the group fell into a easy conversation. When it was time for bed, Rick and T-Dog decided to take the night watch. They would wake Daryl and Glenn up around four in the morning to take over. They were keeping time with Dale's old watch which Glenn rewound every day at noon, just like Dale used to do. Silently Daryl watched as Ava followed Carol towards her tent. He was making his way towards his which was at the end of the camp, beside T-Dog's and two tents away from Ava and Carol. Ava was still uncomfortable and unsure about sleeping in the tent and he could hear Carol trying to reassure her that they would be fine. Carol unzipped the tent and walked in but Ava paused by the door. As if she felt Daryl's eyes on her, she glanced over her shoulder at him. She offered up a small smile before she disappeared inside.

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_Daryl laid over her, thrusting as hard as he could. He was squeezing his eyes shut and grunting. She was running her hands up and down his back with her nails digging into him. Daryl opened his eyes and was surprised to find it was Ava under him. She smiled up at him a second before her eyes fluttered shut and she moaned. He flipped them over, needing to have her ride him the way he had seen girls do in Merle's porns, the way he had always wanted a woman to do to him._

_Ava threw her head back as she sat up on Daryl. She rocked her hips and tilted her head back. Her hair brushed against his thighs as his hips thrust up into the air. Her breasts were tight, her nipples hard. She grabbed his hand and brought it to her mouth when she lowered her head back down. He watched with heat and lust filled eyes as she stuck his middle finger into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it._

_" Oh yeah, Baby, fuck me hard." She moaned out._

_" Oh Darylina." Merle's raspy voice came from the corner of the tent._

" No." Daryl whispered. He was too close to cumming to have Merle interrupt him. He squeezed his eyes shut and pumped his left hand harder on his cock.

_" Feels so good." Ava moaned. _

" Fuck yeah it does." Daryl groaned low and quietly.

_" Fuck her good, Darylina cuz you're only going to get it in your dreams." Merle laughed._

" You best leave me alone." Daryl whispered through gritted teeth.

_" Fuck me right, Daryl." Ava moaned._

" Shit!" Daryl hissed as he started to cum on himself. His head went back, his legs tighten up and his hips went up. Hot fluid flowed over him and onto his stomach. He panted through the orgasm and wondered why he hadn't been jerking off more often.

When he started to come down, he knew just why. When he had to clean himself up, he remembered. He didn't like looking at his chest or stomach. He hated the marks that littered his skin. If he hated looking at them, so would she. Daryl growled and shook his head. Some of his sweat coated hair went into his right eye. Angrily Daryl wiped off his hands then flicked his hair from his face. She would never get the chance to see them.

" Fuck you." Daryl snapped to the memory of Merle laughing at him once when he caught Daryl during his alone time.

Merle had never let Daryl forget it as if Merle didn't jerk off on the couch. At least Daryl had been in his room at the time. He had made fun of Daryl's dick, saying it was a sad, pathetic little thing. He had made fun of Daryl for jerking off because he couldn't get a girl. It had taken Daryl months to start touching himself again, months to get Merle's laughter out of his head.

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Ava laid in the darkness of Carol's tent, listening to the other woman sleep. What was she going to do? Where would she go when it's all said and done? Maybe she could find a group to be apart of. Maybe there was safety in numbers, if you had the right people in your numbers. But would they want her to be a part of them? Would they be able to accept her completely and wholly? She sighed and closed her eyes. She rolled away from Carol, giving the woman her back. No, she couldn't and wouldn't get used to them. She couldn't afford too.

Behind her closed lids Daryl's face flowed into her mind. He was handsome, in a dirty kind of way. He was strong, the perfect example of what a man should look like. His eyes were a beautiful blue, almost crystal clear blue. His hair was longish and dark, just like she had always liked in a man. He was everything Merle wasn't. He watched the group like they were his family, like he cared about them. Merle could care less about anyone. Ava frowned with her eyes closed and shook her head. She silently scolded herself for thinking about a man like that. This was not the time to start forming a stupid ass crush. This was not the world for it.

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Why did her nipples have to haunt him every time Daryl closed his eyes? Why was her smile and laughter moving through him? Because he wanted her and he hated it. He hated himself for it and hated her for it. He would never have her and even if he did get her, Daryl wouldn't know what to do with her. He didn't know the first time about girls. He had no game and he knew it. He didn't know how to talk a girl, much less what to do with her even if she came to his tent. Daryl crossed his arms over his chest and forced himself to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

_* Please Review! And yeah, it's nice to have everyone review. Just because the hits say people are reading doesn't mean they are. The reviews help me to know that people do like it and I will update faster. Thank you for the all the adds!*_

Daryl was perched up in a tree so he could have a better view of the woods when Ava came out of the tent the next morning. She was twisting her hair into a bun, not paying attention to what was going on around her, or the fact that Daryl was watching her. Once her hair was up, she stretched her arms over her head and sighed loudly. The edge of her tank top came up, revealing a small amount of her lower back. He tilted his head to the side and frowned.

" What the hell?" Daryl muttered low. Flashes of his night flowed over him. He blushed. He got mad. He grunted and looked away from her.

Ava dropped her arms and tilted her head to one side then the next. She rechecked her sleeves to make sure they were long enough to cover her marks then turned to face the group. She looked up into the trees and noticed Daryl for the first time. He was leaning with his back against the trunk of a tree and one of his legs propped up against a branch. The back of his leather vest was protecting his skin from the bark. He turned his head and met her eyes right way. Ava gave him a small smile then headed towards the campfire. She could feel Daryl's eyes on her. His stare was hard and burned holes in her.

Daryl readjusted himself in the tree and gripped his crossbow harder as he stared. He didn't want to watch her but he couldn't stop it. His eyes zoned in on her ass and he started to harden up again. He cursed himself and his dick. No matter what, he was not touching himself again. He was not going to fantasy about her another night. Fuck her and her tight, sexy ass.

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Ava lead the group of women as they started off towards the river. Daryl was bring up the rear. He hadn't wanted to go but found himself offering up his services before he could stop himself. Rick had given him a tight nod then they set out along their way. Daryl was shooting some squirrels to keep his mind off of his alone time and her.

Once at the river, Daryl set his game down then started to wander around, making sure to keep his eyes on the women and Ava. Because they knew he was there none of the women took their clothes off. They washed up their exposed skin as best they could then started on the clothes they brought. Daryl looked into the woods and didn't notice Ava making her way towards him until she was already close to him.

" Where did you guys come from?" She asked.

Daryl looked at her and couldn't stop his eyes from quickly moving down her. Again her nipples flashed through his memory. He readjusted himself as he leaned against a bolder and looked away. Ava didn't miss the heat looked that passed over his face, or how his eyes took her in. She was taken back that he had checked her out so openly and that he seemed to be embarrassed by it. He cleared his throat quickly.

" A farmhouse. We were hauled up there til it got overrun." He muttered. Ava crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from him.

" Oh. Sorry to hear that." She said, feeling completely awkward and wondering why her stomach was flipping around. Daryl frowned and looked back at her. Again, and without his control, his eyes went to her breasts.

" Ain't no reason to be sorry." He said. His voice was rough and low. He frowned at the lust he heard in himself. He cleared his throat again and forced himself to look at her face. She was staring back at him. Her lips parted as her breathing started to slow down. He watched as her eyes shifted from his face to his mouth, his neck, his shoulders then his arms. Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. " What the fuck you starin at?" Ava jumped as her face exploded in bright shade of red.

" I...ah..." She shook her head, knowing he caught her checking him out. She turned right away and hurried away from him, making Daryl stand up straight.

' Don't get excited there, lil brother. She ain't hittin on you.' Merle's voice went through his head, making Daryl shake his head. He watched as she walked quickly to the shore. The look in her eyes as she looked at him made his heart speed up. He crossed his arms in front of him.

' Turn around.' He ordered silently. ' Look back at me.' As if she heard him, Ava looked over her shoulder and they caught eyes.

The rest of the time at the river was spent with the two of them looking at each other off and on. She would catch him staring, he would catch her. Sometimes they were stare openly at each other, sometimes they'd look away when they were caught. No one seemed to noticed what was happening between them except for Carol who walked up to Ava with a small smile. Ava looked at the short haired woman, back at Daryl, then at her clothes again as she washed them. Carol sat down beside her and sighed. She looked over at Daryl as he looked away.

" Daryl's a good man." Carol said quietly.

" What?" Ava asked as she blushed. Carol laughed softly and looked at her.

" Daryl. He's a good man, he just doesn't know it yet. When my Sophia went missing, he was the only one who didn't want to stop looking for her." She said.

" What happen to her?" Ava asked.

" She was bitten and turned. Rick had to put her down." Carol said quietly.

" And you let him?" Ava looked at her, making Carol look at her.

" I didn't really have a choice but it's not like it mattered. It wasn't her. It wasn't my Sophia. My daughter was dead." Carol said.

" You believe that? You think there is nothing left of them, somewhere inside?" Ava asked.

" No. The loved ones we remember are gone. The virus is all that keeps them going." Carol answered. " We saw it. We went to the CDC and saw what the virus does to someone who is bitten. It kills the person then restarts the body." Ava sighed and went back to her clothes.

" Daryl helped you?" She asked.

" Yeah. He'll help you too, if you let him. He wants to be there for people, it's just hard for him. It's hard for him to accept that he cares about us and he cares about what we think about him." Carol said.

" Because of his brother." Ava said.

" I think so. I think Merle really did a member on him mentally." And physically, Ava knew that even if Carol didn't. " Be patient with him, trust him." That was easier said than done.

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That night everyone was surprised when Ava offered to take her turn with watch. It was going to be her, Daryl and Glenn for the first part of the night and T-Dog and Rick for the second. No one was more surprised then Daryl. None of the women wanted to take watch. Sure, Andrea had done it when they were at the farm but Daryl remembered all to well how that went down for him.

" So, should I go to the middle or back of the camp?" Ava asked Daryl.

" You ain't got to take watch." Daryl said. " Glenn and I can handle it."

" I don't doubt it but I need to pull my weight." She said.

" You sure you can take one down if you need too?" Daryl asked. It was a stupid question. She had saved his life taking not one but two walkers down.

" Yeah. I have killed a few." Ava answered. " So where do you want me?" Her innocent question caused a not so innocent jerk inside his pants. He knew just where he wanted her. He frowned hard and put his hands on his hips.

" Don't matter." Daryl said, roughly.

" Well, where are you going?" She asked as she stared up at him.

" Around."

" Daryl roams. He doesn't stay in one spot." Glenn asked as he came up to them. " I'm going to front if you want the back."

" Okay. You let me know when we're done?" She asked Glenn.

" Yeah. I'll come and get you." He said. Ava smiled, nodded, then turned and headed towards Daryl's tent to climb into a tree.

Daryl listened to the night sounds that were all around him but his eyes were on the girl that was straddling a big tree branch. She had an arrow on her bow and was looking slowly around. She looked like an expert and he had to wonder what she did before the outbreak. She was completely comfortable in sitting in the tree in the middle of the night. And she looked hot.

As he stared at her, Daryl noticed that something sparked her interest. She was staring pass his tent as she slowly stood up. He looked to his tent but couldn't see anything from his spot so he looked back at her. She brought her arrow up and steadied her arms a second before she sent it flying through the air. Daryl frowned and looked towards his tent again.

Ava started to carefully climb down the tree. When she reached the ground, she pulled out another arrow and started towards the walker she had taken down. Her eyes were alert and she was listening for the sounds of another walker. With a frown, she quietly made her way pass Daryl's tent and into the woods. She wanted to get her arrow and drag the downed walker away so no one would see it and be scared.

Ava came up to the dead man and looked around. When she was sure she was alone, she slipped off her quiver and set it on the ground. Her bow was next. She walked to the head of the walker and stepped against it. She bent down and yanked her arrow out. She frowned at the loud sucking then popping sound of the arrow pulling free.

" Disgusting bastard." She muttered, dropping the arrow to the ground.

" What are..." Ava jumped, cried out and spun around at the sound of the voice. She slung out to hit whoever snuck up on her only to have her fist grabbed. She was spun back around a second before she was locked down between two strong arms and crushed against a hard chest. " Don't be tryin and hit me again. Calm the fuck down before you wake every one up." Daryl's voice hissed into her ear.

" Don't sneak up on me." Ava whispered with her eyes shut.

Daryl's breath was hot against her skin while his body was warm and hard against her. It took her only a moment to realize he was hard everywhere as he pressed himself into her. He must have realized it at the same time she did because he pushed her away from him fast. So fast, in fact, that Ava stumbled. Daryl's arm shot out and he grabbed her to keep her from falling. He yanked her up hard. The action caused her hands to come out to grab something as she turned. And that something was the chest of Daryl's shirt. Her little body collided with his.

They did nothing but stare at each other. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed. She swallowed with her head slamming in her neck. Daryl's eyes shifted to her pulse. His hand tighten on her arm without him thinking. He had a moment where he wondered what it would feel like to run his tongue against the skin of her neck. What was wrong with him? Why did he want this girl so bad? Why did he want to have sex with her so bad he had to grit his teeth together? He wanted to lower his head down and kiss her but Daryl didn't know how to kiss, not really. He could press his lips against hers but then what?

" Ah...hey guys?" Glenn asked as he cleared his throat. Daryl and Ava yanked away from each other.

" I killed a walker." Ava said quickly as she blushed.

" Okay." Glenn said.

" I was going to drag it away from the camp so no one would see it." She said as she refused to meet either man's eyes. Not that it mattered with Daryl. He couldn't look at her either.

" That's a good idea. I'll help." Glenn said as he came forward. He could see the awkwardness between them. He was an expert at awkward moments.


	10. Chapter 10

_* Please Review! Thank you to Nymph for talking me through this chapter!*_

Glenn and Ava each took a shoulder while Daryl picked up the walker's legs. Glenn and Ava walked backwards with Daryl watching their steps. They shuffled along until they felt they were far enough away from the group to dump the body. With heavy heave, they let him go and he landed in the bushes. Ava pulled a small bottle of purell out of her pocket and handed it out to Glenn who smiled.

" Yeah." Glenn said. " Thank you." She squirted some into his hands then held the bottle to Daryl.

" What the hell is it?" Daryl snapped.

" Purell. It's kills germs." She said simply. With his frown he held out on hand. She squirted some in it, making Daryl glance at Glenn to see what he should do. He started rubbing his hands together quickly. He looked over at Ava to see she was doing the same.

" We better get back to camp." Glenn said.

The rest of their watch, Daryl watched the woods and her. She was perched back up in the tree with her eyes searching through the woods. She was alert and ready for action. Again Daryl had to wonder what she had done for a living before the outbreak. He stayed in the woods and out of her sight. He didn't want her to know how much he watched her, he didn't want to admit to himself how much he watched her.

At sunrise, everyone started coming out of their tents and gathering around the camp fire. Glenn, Daryl and Ava decided to only tell Rick about the walker. The point of hiding the body was to not upset the group members but Glenn and Daryl felt Rick should know. As they talked to Rick, Daryl noticed that Ava ducked into Carol's tent then popped out a few moments later with her backpack on her back. He expected her to lay down, that was what he was planning on doing. Daryl didn't need a lot of sleep but he needed few hours so he could be alert.

" Where the fuck you think you're goin?" Daryl asked her after he broke from Glenn and Rick to follow her.

" To the river." Ava answered.

" Ain't safe to go alone." Daryl asked as he followed her.

" I'll be fine. I roamed the woods for weeks alone before you guys besides, I need some alone time. " She said while she turned to face him. She was walking backwards. " Sometimes I need a break from people, you know?" He did know. He valued his alone time. He valued the peace and quiet that came with being alone. He wasn't used to being around people as much as he was with the group. Ava didn't say anything. She spun around and picked her pace, disappearing from the group into the woods.

But not from his view.

Daryl followed her with his frown set in place. She took careless chances in being alone and he didn't like that. She had a little girl, her sister, to think about. If something happen to Ava there would be nothing to stop Merle from turning on Angel, if he hadn't already. If Ava wasn't going to watch her own ass then Daryl would just have to do it for her. Which was why he was was hiding in some bushes, watching her undress by the river.

He watched as Ava slipped off her shoes then her socks. She set her backpack down and started going through it. Carefully, she set out some soap, two bottles of something and what looked like a razor. Then she stood up and looked around. Daryl ducked low into the bushes, making sure she wouldn't see him. Her hands went to her jeans were she quickly undid them and pushed them down her slender legs. Daryl had to hold his breath. She stood up straight and undid her bra quickly. She dropped the black fabric to the ground then turned and gave him her back. Daryl almost growled out loud. She was wearing a pair of black thongs and a tight shirt. Her bare ass was all he could focus on.

He watched as she washed her arms and her stomach. His teeth smashed together as he watched her hands work under her shirt to wash her breasts and back. She stood in waist deep water and bend down to wash her legs, and make his heart slam painfully. She ducked down under the water, only to reemerge a few seconds later. She threw her head back to start washing her hair. He was panting while he watched the shampoo slide down her back and over her perfect ass. She dunked back down, rinsed the shampoo out then applied her conditioner.

After she was sure her hair was clean, he watched her started to shave her legs. And that was better than porn to him, even better than her knife work. He held his breath as her right hand slowly brought the razor up her right leg. Her other hand then slipped down the patch of skin she had just shaved. She moved to another section of her leg. Up she moved, down she stroked. His body jerked and harden. His breath hitched, his stomach contracted. His hands opened and closed against his knees. He narrowed his eyes, he frowned. He squinted, he bit down into his bottom lip. He imagined her stroking him like that. He imagined her hands closing around his dick and stroking up him then back down.

By the time she was finished he was sure his cock was going to split open. She set her razor down then walked back into the water. She sank down to her knees and reclined back. Daryl was tight and shaking. His sole attention was on her. His vision was tunneled down and focused on only her. He wanted, no needed, to see what she was going to do. He couldn't get enough of the way her shirt clung to her hard nipples and showed them off to him, again.

One of Ava's hands went into the water, just below her waist. Her eyes were shut and he had to wonder what she was going to do. She was all shaved up and washed up, so why wasn't she getting out of the water? He wanted her out of the water. He wanted to see her ass again. He needed to see her ass again. Daryl held his breath as her mouth fell open suddenly.

' What the hell is she doing?' He wondered silently.

Then she moaned quietly and he knew just what he was seeing. She was touching herself, just like he had seen in the porns, only it was real. Ava's right arm was supporting her upper body and he could see that her knees were bent. She was moving her hips slowly under the water. She held her breath, then moaned out again. Daryl was too stunned to move.

" He's so hot." She moaned out in a whisper that was just loud enough for Daryl to hear it. Who was she talking about? He watched as she bit the left side of her bottom lip and sighed. Her mouth went open again and her back arched. He was sweating and breathing hard. Her hips started moving faster and her breath caught then...she said his name. His name. Not Rick's, not Glenn's, not T-Dog's or someone else's. No. It was his name. Loud and clear. She was touching herself and getting off to him. Daryl fell back on his ass but she didn't noticed. She was to deep into her orgasm.

TWDTWDTWD

" What's wrong?" Rick asked as Daryl stormed through the camp.

" Ain't nothin wrong! Tired! Can't a man be tired!" He snapped. " Damn it! I was up all night! I got the right to be tired!" The group members watched as Daryl alternated from muttering to yelling as he moved towards his tent.

" Wonder if he and Ava got into a fight?" Glenn said to Maggie from their spot at the fire. Glenn wanted to eat then he was going to take a nap. He turned around from Daryl when the redneck disappeared into his tent. They were used to Daryl's emotional outbreaks although he hadn't had one in a while. " Yeah, I'm to tired to eat. I'm going to bed." Glenn said as he stood up.

A few minutes later Ava strolled back into the camp with her wet hair hanging down her back and her back pack on her back. She smiled shyly at some members but passed on the food. She told Carol she was going to lay down and started towards their tent. Glenn was just getting ready to go into his when he noticed Ava and stopped her.

" Did you and Daryl have a fight?" He asked. Ava shook her head with a frown.

" No, why?" She asked.

" Well he just came back all pissed off." Glenn informed her. Ava frowned and looked towards the hunter's section of the camp then back at Glenn.

" What do you mean he just came back?" She asked.

" After you said you were going to the river, he went after you. Rick doesn't like us being alone out. You didn't know he was there?" Ava took a step back and brought her hand to her mouth.

" When did he come back?" She asked. Glenn frowned at how breathless her voice sounded.

" Just a few minutes before you did. Why?" He asked.

Daryl paced in his tent. He pushed over the small pile clothes he had. He kicked at his blanket and cursed. He crossed his arms over his chest then dropped his arms. He put his hands on his hips then dropped them again. He frowned, he cursed, he squinted. He spun around when the zipper to his tent started to fly up.

" What the hell!" He snapped. No one just came into his tent. Ava flung open the tent door and stepped in. Daryl stepped back at the same time his face exploded in heat. " What do you want!" He yelled as he started shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He was struggling to breath normally. Ave raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

" Did you enjoy the show?" She asked quietly.

" What are you talkin bout?" He asked.

" You know that I'm talking about. Are you some kind of pervert or what?" She asked.

" I ain't no pervert! Why the hell are you doin that out in the open!" Daryl yelled.

" Do you mind keeping your fucking voice down!" She hissed as she came forward quickly. Daryl backed straight back without thinking as she invaded his personal space.

" You ain't got to worry bout my voice. You need to worry bout keepin it in your pants." He said in a quiet voice. Ava narrowed her eyes at him.

" Don't you worry about what's in or out of my pants." She said. " Do not let me catch you spying on me again." Daryl's anger peaked and he stepped up so they were only seconds apart from each other. She could feel the heat of his skin coming off him.

" Don't threaten me, Lil girl." He bit out. Ava closed the distance between them and grabbed him by his shirt. She yanked him down hard.

" Or what?" She whispered a second before she pressed her lips against his. Daryl didn't even have time to close his eyes before she pulled away from him and walked out of his tent. She zipped it shut and was gone, leaving him with the feel of her lips on him, his heart pounding and his cock standing straight up.


	11. Chapter 11

_* Please Review! Thank you, my twin!*_

' I shouldn't have kissed him.' Ava kept telling herself over and over again for the next few days.

It was barely a kiss really, just a short press of her lips to his. She hadn't even given Daryl chance to respond to her. She had done it because she had been overcome with the need to feel him. She liked his lips. She liked how when he was squinting, his lips were parted. It was like his entire face squinted, not just his eyes. She liked the way his lips looked when he was staring at her. He would hold his mouth tight, like he was annoyed. Well he looked annoyed all the time.

' Who the fuck does she think she is?' Daryl repeated to himself over and over again the day after she had kissed him. He refused to talk to her. He refused to look at her, well he refused to look at her when she was looking at him. He was pissed. He pissed that he couldn't get her off his mind and pissed that she was what he was dreaming about. She was haunting him and it was killing him.

She was with the group for a week but he didn't talk to her for the four days after the kiss. They watched each other carefully when they thought no one was paying attention. He watched her during their watch at night. She watched him when he came back from hunting. She loved watching him when he worked at gutting and skinning the animals he caught. She hated to admit it to herself but she was so attracted to him that she wanted to kiss him again. Maybe even do more.

Deep inside Daryl, he knew he wanted her lips on him again too.

TWDTWDTWD

" So just like last time, we get in and get out quietly." Rick said to Daryl, Hershel, and Glenn as they stood around one of the cars.

" What's going on?" Ava asked, coming up to the boys. Daryl frowned and put his hands on his hips. He would not look at her. He refused to look at her even though she came up to his side. He refused to acknowledge that his throat was closing and his heart was racing just by being next to her.

" We need to make a raid to town for some supplies." Rick said.

" I want to go." Ava said.

" What the fuck for?!" Daryl snapped when he finally looked down at her. Ava looked up at him like she hadn't realized he was standing there and that pissed him off more. Heat flooded his face as his eyes narrowed down.

" Well I want to help." She said, looking back at Rick. " I want to help. I want to go. I'm fast, I'm quiet. I can fire an arrow which will be quieter than your guns and faster than this guy's cross bow." This guy's cross bow. She referred to Daryl as this guy instead of by his name! How dare she!

" She ain't goin." He snapped.

" Now hang on, Daryl. She's got a point." Hershel said.

" She ain't got nothin!" Daryl snapped a little louder. Rick put his hand up to try and quiet the hunter.

" Her bow will be quiet." Rick said quietly. Daryl kept his eyes narrowed but didn't say anything. The others started to make plans of the trip and missed Daryl say to her,

" I ain't watchin your ass."

" Now I think we both know that isn't true." Ava commented without looking at him.

TWDTWDTWD

Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and Ava piled into Hershel's truck and started on their way a short time later. Rick was driving with Glenn sitting beside him. That put Ava and Daryl in the bed of the truck, across from each other. Ava was watching the scenery pass by while Daryl was trying and failing to not look at her. He was tense. Tense from being around her, and tensed from going to town. It wasn't an easy trip and they all knew it.

Rick pulled the truck over to the side of the road, outside the town. Quickly, they all dispatched from the truck and gathered in front of it. Glenn and Daryl stood in between Rick and Ava. They were quietly watching the street that ran through the center of the town, waiting to see if any walkers came by. Everyone was holding their breaths.

" In and out." Rick whispered. " We go through the houses, get clothes, shoes, pills, blankets. We need to be as quiet as we can."

" We are splitting up?" Ava whispered.

" Yeah. Two on two." Rick said.

" Who goes with who?" Ava asked.

" You're with me." Daryl snapped to her, making Ava look up at him. " Let's go." Daryl said without looking down at her. They started walking with every one's eyes open.

The only thing they could hear was the summertime insects and a few bird calls. The town appeared to be empty but they all know that wasn't true. The walkers could be anywhere, stuck in cars, houses or shops. They walked down the long streets, looking and listening until they came to a series of houses. That was when the group split. Daryl and Ava moved to the right and Glenn and Rick to the left.

Daryl and Ava quietly walked around to the back of the house so they could look through the windows. Again, the house seemed empty but looks could be deceiving. As they rounded the house, Daryl scanned the back yard while she quietly opened the back door and looked into the kitchen. He came up to her back and glanced in over her head.

" All clear." She whispered.

The first thing they did was search every room, every closet, and under every bed. When they decided the house was clean of walkers, Ava went to the front door and Daryl went to the back. They made sure the doors were shut up tight then moved to draw all the curtains to further hid their presence from the outside.

" So should we start searching up stairs for things?" She asked.

" Reckon so." Daryl commented, walking straight out of the room. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at his chipped tone.

" If you don't like me then why did you want me with you?" She asked, hurrying her pace to catch up to him.

" Don't want you to do sumthin stupid and get one of my boys killed." He muttered as he started up the stairs. Ava sighed but followed after him.

Ava filled a pillowcase with all the medicine she could find in the bathroom, toothpaste and soaps were next. Daryl went through the clothes and shoes. Since he was used to raiding places for things, he knew every one's sizes. They made a pile of their supplies in the living room. They passed by each other, making sure they didn't touch but that didn't stop their eyes from meeting. He would frown and glare, she would shake her head and roll her eyes.

" Girl!" He yelled up the stairs to her. " Hurry your ass up!"

" Shut up, Cranky!" Ava yelled. " I'm just double checking everything!" Daryl grumbled to himself about her being a bitch as he walked away from the stairs.

They dragged the supplies to the sidewalk where they left them before moving to the next house. They worked good together, both were surprised to see. They were on their third house when she suggested they check the barn in the back of the house for anything they could use, tools, fuel, weapons. Daryl hated that she had spotted something before him but he followed after her as they walked through the yard. And it wasn't so he could watch her ass, he told himself.

The barn had two levels and they decided that she would check the loft, he would look through the ground level. He hated that he had to watch her climb the ladder. Some of the steps were broken but she skimmed over them quickly. Her bare ass flashed through his mind, like it had been doing every night since he had seen it. His body reacted, hard. His dick jerked in his pants and started to rise up, begging him to touch it. His hands went into fist as he gave himself a shake. He was done jerking off to her. He had been doing it every night and he was done. He had tried to fantasy about someone else, anyone else, but her face, ass and nipples always popped up, not to mention he remember how softly her lips brushed against his.

Daryl grunted to himself, turned away from her and started looking through a work bench that was to his left. He opened drawers and started shifting through junk. He listened to her movements while he looked around. When he was sure there was nothing useful, he turned around and was ready to call up to her that they should head out when she hissed his name.

" Daryl! There are walkers coming this way!" She hissed from the landing.

" Where are they!" He asked quickly. She pointed towards the back of the barn where there was a huge window. " How many?"

" 50, maybe more, maybe a little less." Ava said.

" Get your ass done here, we need to clear out!" He whispered. She ran towards the ladder while he moved to the back of the barn to peer through the cracks in the wood. She was right. The walkers were moving down the street. He hoped Rick and Glenn could see them. He spun around as she started climbing down. " Hurry up!" He ordered.

" I'm coming!" She snapped. But in her haste, she forgot about the broke steps and slipped. She crashed straight down to the ground, landing on her right side, hard.

" Fuck!" Daryl cursed as he ran towards her. She rolled to her back, clutching her right knee.

" I'm fine!" She said quickly through gritted teeth. She wasn't fine but she'd be damn if he knew about it. He went to his knees by her.

" Where are you hurt?" He snapped.

" Nowhere! I'm fine." She turned to the left and started to stand. A sharp, stabbing went through her right knee, making her cry out and grab it as she went back on her ass.

" You ain't fine!" He hissed. He grabbed her arm. " Come on, let me get you up!" She yanked her arm away from him.

" Don't touch me! I can get up on my own!" But when she tried again, the pain brought her right back down.

" Damn it! We ain't got time for you to be a stupid bitch!" Daryl snapped. He grabbed her arm and helped her to stand. He put one arm around her waist and his other hand took a hold of her arm. He started half dragging, half helping her to walk with her protesting so hard that he let her go. Ava fell straight down to the floor of the barn. " You done being stupid?!" She glared up at him.

" Fuck you!" She said.

" No." Daryl snapped as he bend down. He grabbed her roughly and pulled her up. He tossed her over his shoulder and started running out of the barn. " Fuck." He cursed when he saw the hoard. He had one arm locked down across the back of her knees and his other hand on her back to hold her in place. Her hands were gripping the back of his leather vest. He took off running for a house.

" Where are you going!" She asked in panic.

" We ain't gonna make it to the truck. We gonna have to wait them out in the house. Keep your fuckin mouth shut."

Daryl slipped into the house and turned around. He shut and locked the door Daryl spun back around and ran to the stairs of the house. He sprinted up them, taking them two at a time until he reached the second story of the house. He was bouncing her around as he moved and it was killing her but she would not let him know. It was bad enough he had carried her into the house.

" Now what?" She snapped at him. He turned and hurried into a bedroom that was at the front of house. He ran to the bed and was surprisingly gentle as he lowered her down to the mattress.

" Stay here." He said as he crouched down and crept to the window.

As he watched, he saw Rick and Glenn running towards the truck. He couldn't blame them. They needed to stay alive and there was no way for them to know where Daryl and Ava were. They needed to leave and would trust that Daryl would find a way out of the town and back to camp. Daryl frowned as he watched the walkers mill around. Daryl closed his eyes and turned around, putting his back to the wall and sighing.

" What is it?" Ava asked. Daryl shook his head and looked back at her.

" You can't walk, there's a shit ton of dead bastards out there and our ride is gone." He answered.


	12. Chapter 12

_* Please Review! __**Emberka-2012:**__ you have to understand something about Ava, she has never been abused before in her life, and i think i mentioned that in a early chapter. now she has been abused by a man she doesnt know ( merle). she has been sent out to find that man's brother and runs into a group of people she doesnt know. the last time she was around a group of people she didnt know, she got beat up so I think she has the right to be a little angry. __**Lucy:**__ I hope school is going well! I knew you'd catch up.*_

_Favorite line: _Ain't like I ain't seen it so roll over!

" We can't just leave them!" Glenn said as Rick started up the truck.

" We don't have a choice. We don't know where they are but Daryl is smart. He will keep them safe. We need to leave." Rick said. " We will go, unload and try and come back for them."

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl watched as Ava tried to readjust herself in the bed and not whine. She was in pain, he could see it even though she was trying to hide it. Every movement she made sent a flash of pain over her face. Her lips were washed out and she was getting paler and paler. There seemed to be a thin line of sweat along her hairline. He was still sitting across the room from her. He was sitting with his back against the wall.

" Where you hurt?" Daryl asked.

" I'm fine." Ava said. Daryl put one hand on the wall and pushed himself up.

" You ain't fine. I can see it. Now where the fuck are you hurt?" He snapped. Ava stared hard at him as he made his way towards her.

' He's not Merle.' She told herself. Merle could never know when she was in pain. If she was hurting, he would just use that against her. ' He's not his brother.'

" My right hip and my knee. I think I dislocated my hip." She said softly.

" We gonna have to put it back in if it's out." Daryl said, reaching the end of the bed.

" It's going to hurt." Ava said.

" Gonna hurt worst if we leave it. You ain't gonna be able to walk right." She closed her eyes and sighed. He was right, and she knew it. " We gonna have to take your pants down so I can see it." Her eyes flew open as she looked at him quickly.

" What?" She asked as her face flushed.

" I need to see it." Daryl said as he reached her side. She was staring up at him. " I need to feel it and see if it's really dislocated." Daryl would know if it was. His shoulder had been pulled out once.

" I don't think I can get them off alone." She admitted, making him nod.

" You undo the button then hold on to my shoulders. I'll lift you up and pull them down." Daryl said.

" Okay." She said, looking away from him.

He watched her face as she undid the button of her jeans with her hands shaking hard. The bruises on her legs were clearing up. They were only a nasty yellow color but that wasn't what was embarrassing her. Her panties were. After her zipper went down, Daryl leaned down. Her arms went around his shoulders and her eyes closed. He took a hold of her by her ribs. Gently, he lifted her up and heard her sharp intake of breath. He knew the movement had to have hurt her but there was nothing he could about it. She tightened her arms around him with one hand going into his hair as his hands dropped to her jeans. He worked them slowly down until they were past her knees then set her back down.

" Fuckin shit, woman. Ain't you got a normal pair of panties? Why the hell you were those thongs all the time." Daryl growled as her arms slipped down from him.

" Shut up! When I left my house, I just grabbed whatever I could!" She snapped as she flushed.

" Get on your side." He snapped back. She swallowed hard but didn't move. Daryl put his hands on his hips and frowned. " Ain't like I ain't seen it so roll over!"

It was Ava's turn to frown. She looked away from him and grabbed the blankets. With a hard effort, she rolled herself over onto her left side. Daryl's hands came to her hip with his fingers spreading out. His touch was warm and rough as he felt around. She looked over her shoulder at his hands then at his face. His eyes were squinted, his lips were parted and his tongue was pressed against the left side of his lips. His entire focus was on her hip. She bit into her bottom lip as pain coursed through her.

" We gonna have to put it back." Daryl grumbled. " You fucked it up pretty bad." They met eyes at his words.

" That's going to hurt." She said, making him nod. She looked away and sighed. " Do it." His hands moved to her thigh.

" I'm gonna jerk it. Don't scream. Walkers are still outside so you got to be quiet." To her surprise, Daryl's voice was soft.

" Just do it." Ava said as she gripped the blankets. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

Daryl moved so he was standing by her knee. He stared at her face as he gently lifted her leg. She was breathing slow and he felt bad for what he was going to do but they didn't have a choice. He took a deep breath and jerked her hard. Her hip made a loud popping sound as it went back into it's right place. Ava dropped her head, jumped and tensed, but she didn't cry out. She wanted too, he knew it, but she didn't.

" You alright?" He asked as he set her leg down. She whined and nodded without lifting her head from the bed.

The pain that was coursing through her hip and leg was making her sweat hard. She was squeezing her eyes hard as tears pricked her. Daryl was muttering something as he left the room but she couldn't focus on him. She was swallowing over and over so she didn't throw up. Her hip was burning. It was a searing pain. She would not cry. She refused to cry.

Daryl quickly and quietly moved down the stairs, making sure he watched the windows. He hurried to the kitchen where he knew they had left some supplies. They hadn't had a chance to take that house's supplies outside. He grabbed one of the bottles of the water and started looking through the pain relievers they had found. He snatched up a bottle of Oxy and started back up to her.

' It's not going to last.' Ava was repeating silently to herself. ' The pain will go away.' She whined and shook her head.

" Here." Daryl's rough voice said. Ava opened her eyes and looked back at him. He was holding a bottle of water and a pill out to her.

" What if it?" She asked.

" Oxy, for the pain." When she didn't answer, he shoved it towards her. " Just take it and don't be a hard ass."

" It will put me to sleep." She said.

" It's fine. I'll watch you." He said.

Ava took the pill and the water. She popped it into her mouth and quickly washed it down with Daryl staring down at her. She lowered the bottle from her lips, swiped her arm across them then handed it back with a quiet thanks. Daryl nodded as he replaced the cap and set the bottle on the night stand beside the bed.

" You got about 30 minutes 'fore you fall asleep?" Daryl asked.

" Yeah, about that." She said. He nodded again.

" We need to pull your pants up." Daryl said.

Ava had to admit, when Daryl needed to be, he could be very gentle with her. He had her hold him again as he lifted her up and carefully pulled her pants up. He settled her into the bed, on her left side then grabbed a pillow and placed it in between her legs at her knees. He mumbled something about it helping to stabilize her hip and knee before he pulled away from her.

" Where are you going?" Ava asked.

" Gonna check the house and make sure it's safe." Daryl said.

TWDTWDTWD

He checked all windows and double checked the doors. Everything was locked up tight. He could see the walkers outside on the street, mulling around and running into each other. There was no way they could leave. She wasn't going to be able to walk for a few days, that much Daryl knew. Her knee was swollen up and there was no way he could carry her and defend them. They were going to have to hold up where they were. He only hoped the walkers would clear up.

Daryl went to the kitchen and started gathering up the supplies. He was going to haul them upstairs and stay up there. The less they moved around in the downstairs part of the house, the less likely the walkers were to find out they were there. After a few trips up and down the stairs, Daryl wandered back into the front bedroom and found Ava sleeping.

Daryl walked back across the room and took up his original spot in the bedroom. He slipped his cross bow off and set it down so it was leaning against his legs. He crossed his right leg over his leg, his arms over his chest, tilted himself slightly to the right and watched her for a few minutes. He felt his eyes squint as he looked at her ass. He knew just what that ass looked like under her jeans and damn if he didn't want his hands on it. He wanted to grab it while she rocked her hips against him.

Daryl's lips parted as he imagined it. He stood up straight with his eyes glued on her sleeping form. Yeah, his hands would grip her ass hard. Her hands would be on his shoulders. She would have her eyes shut and be moaning like he had seen her doing in the river. Daryl would thrust up into her and it would feel amazing, he was sure of it. It was going to feel so good, he almost couldn't wait.

With a grunt, he shook his head and frowned. What the hell is he thinking? He almost couldn't wait? He was not going to be having sex with her. Daryl looked away and ran his right hand over his face. He was just tired. That was why he thinking like a crazy man. He was tired, horny and had just see her ass, AGAIN. And touched her amazing soft skin. With a angry grunt he pushed away from the wall and snatched up his cross bow. He crossed the room and closed the bedroom door. He locked it then faced the bed. He was going to lay down and try and sleep. He would just lay down as far as he could from her. He didn't want to go into another room because he knew they should stick together. He needed to keep her safe so he could help her save her sister.

TWDTWDTWD

Ava woke with something a weight around her waist and something hot close to her face. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see Daryl sleeping beside her. His right arm was under a pillow and his left arm was around her waist. His head was tucked down so his face was even with hers. His lips were parted as he took slow, even breaths. She wanted to laugh because even in his sleep, his eyes were squinting. She reached out and pushed the hair from the left side of his face. She pressed her lips together and laid her hand against his cheek. She let the back of her knuckles brush against his skin. She brought her fingers to his goatee and started slowing combing through it.

Daryl refused to move as she touched him. Her finger tips touched his chin, his scruffy facial face, his cheek. She ran her hand through his hair then touched his neck. He felt her move a second before her lips brushed against his. She lightly bit into his bottom lip then sucked against it. His dick jerked. His muscles tensed. He was ready to open his eyes when she released his lip and brushed the tip of her nose against his then sighed and settled back into the bed.


	13. Chapter 13

_* Please Review! __**Nymph: **__Figure it out! __**Caffiend04:**__ I love you! Guys, thank you so much for reading and reviewing! It does mean so much to me!*_

When Ava woke she was alone and it was dark outside. Surprisingly, her hip wasn't hurting her as bad as it had been when she passed out. It was sore, but it wasn't nearly as bad. She rolled over to her back and sat up. She felt her knee through her jeans and found that it was still very tender. With a groan, she turned to the side and stood up to test her hips.

" What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Daryl snapped from the doorway. Ava looked behind her to see he was holding a glass bottle.

" Seeing if I can walk." She said. Daryl shook his head and walked into the room, closing the bedroom door behind him.

" Hell no you ain't." Daryl said as he came forward. " You need to rest that shit up. You just gonna fuck it up more." Ava sighed and sat back down, knowing he was right.

" What's in your hand?" She asked. Daryl looked down at the bottle than back up at her.

" Liquor. Found it when you were bein lazy." He said, making her frown.

" I wasn't being lazy, Dick. I told you the pill would make me sleep." Ava defended. Daryl nodded with his frown firmly in place. He was walking around the bed. " Are they still out there?"

" Yeah. They are walkin around." Ava carefully moved so her back was against the bed frame and her legs were on the bed.

" Can they get in?" She asked as she watched him.

" They don't know we're in here so they ain't got a reason to come in. You drink?" Daryl asked.

" I haven't since before the outbreak but I used too." Ava said. Daryl nodded and sat down on the opposite side of the bed. She could just make out his face in the darkness. The moonlight was streaming through the two bedroom windows that were in front of the bed.

" Thought we might need sumthin after this shit day." He said as he took the cap off the bottle. " You like Jack Daniels?"

" I don't think I have a choice right now." She said. He took a hard drink then lowered the bottle down without looking at her. He handed the bottle over at the same time he used his left arm to wipe his mouth. " So what are we going to do?" He shook his head as her fingers brushed his while she took the bottle.

" Stay here. You can't walk, got some canned food and bottled water so we'll be fine for a bit." He said. Ava tilted the bottle back after it touched her lips. She closed her eyes as the burning liquor slipped into her mouth. " We can't make a break for it. We'll never make it. Even if those dumb bastards clear out, we ain't got no way to make it back to camp."

" Will they come back for us?" Ava asked, passing the bottle back.

" Reckon so. Don't matter though if you can't walk through the town." Daryl said.

" I'm sorry. I didn't fall on purpose." Ava's voice was so soft that Daryl looked at her quickly. She was wringing her hands together as they sat on her lap and she was staring at them. Daryl frowned and looked at the bottle of Jack.

" I ain't...I ain't blamin you." He said.

" Seems like it." Ava muttered. Daryl shook his head and brought the bottle up.

" I'm...sorry." He said with his voice rough. He hated that phrase. Ava sighed while he took his drink.

" No, I'm the one who's sorry. I should paid more attention and not panicked when I saw them. If I had watched my step, I wouldn't have fallen." She admitted. Daryl frowned and exhaled long and hard. He couldn't deny that but he understood her reaction. Seeing a hoarde of walkers could make anyone panic, he knew that first hand.

For a while they didn't talk to each other. He drank and passed the bottle over to her. Ava drank and passed it back. Daryl wasn't sure what to say to her and she didn't seem in a rush to fill their silence. She sighed every so often which made Daryl look at her but she never looked away from her lap. She took each drink without making a face and that was sexy to him. Daryl frowned and shook his head. Everything about her was sexy to him.

" What?" She asked, looking at him.

" Ain't said nothin." Daryl snapped. Ava groaned and shook her head at him.

" Do we think we can make a deal?" She asked, handing the bottle back.

" Bout what?"

" We stop snapping at each other. We need to stop being angry with one another." She said.

" You're the stupid bitch that keeps it up." He said. Her lips parted as her eyebrows came together. She closed her eyes, shook her head and looked away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. Daryl frowned and it was his turn to look away. " Sorry." He muttered.

" It's okay." She said. She sighed and again they fell silent.

" So, what did you do before the world took a shit?" Daryl pushed himself to say. The liquid was starting to work it's way into his system, warming him from the inside out.

" Ah, I was a baker. I worked at a bakery." Ava said.

" No shit?" Daryl asked. Ava looked back at him and smiled, taking the bottle back.

" No shit." She said.

His eyes moved from hers to her mouth as she brought the bottle up and she didn't miss it. She took her drink then slowly let the bottle come down. His mouth opened slightly and he exhaled when she let her tongue travel over her bottom lip to clean up the extra Jack that sat there. His eyes narrowed down and his own tongue went out. He mimicked her movements with it, making her body clench up. She almost whined at the sight of the tip of his tongue.

" Why do you keep kissin me?" He whispered.

" What?" She asked.

" You kissed me twice now. Why?" Daryl asked. Ava shook her head with a frown.

" I...I only kissed you that once, in your tent when I was mad at you." She said.

" That ain't true. You kissed me in this bed."

" I thought you were sleeping." She said as her face flushed.

" Well I wasn't." Was all he said.

" Why didn't you kiss me back?" She asked.

She knew there was no way she was going to get out of the conversation. Daryl wasn't the type to just let someone walk away when they had information he wanted. But with her question, it was his turn to look away and blush. He brought his left thumb to his mouth and started to chew on it. She waited for a few tense seconds before she shook her head and focused her eyes back on her jeans.

" Forget it." She said. " Don't worry about it, I won't do it again."

" I ain't said that." Daryl's words were so low that she almost didn't hear them. Almost.

" So you want me to do it again?" She asked.

Still, neither one was looking at each other. Daryl grabbed the bottle and took a long drink to think about his answer. Did he want her to do it again? Hell yeah he did but he didn't want to admit it to her. He wanted her to bite against his bottom lip like she had done when she thought he was sleeping. He wanted to her to suck against it again. He wanted it so bad that his left hand gripped at his pant leg. He wanted to taste the inside of her mouth. He wanted to be inside her but she wasn't the type of girl he was used too. She wasn't a drunken whore who would fuck anything and anyone. Daryl's biceps tensed and his cock jumped so hard he was sure she saw it through his jeans. He needed to get away from her and fast. Daryl slammed the Jack Daniels bottle down on the night stand, making her jump. He stood up and started around the bed with her staring at him.

" Where are you going?" She asked quickly.

" To sleep in another bed. Don't open the fuckin door for nothin." He snapped.

" Daryl, wait!" Ava said. He grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. He wasn't waiting for anything. He stepped out into the hallway and slammed the door harder than he meant too. With his hand on the handle, he leaned against it and closed his eyes.

" Calm the fuck down." He whispered to himself. " Just calm the fuck down." He opened his eyes and looked down at his crotch. " She ain't for us."

The girls he fucked in the past were always too drunk to care if they got off or not, or only cared about the money he gave them. He hadn't kissed them or touched them. He had always lubed himself up and pushed inside them to pump away until he had an orgasm. But Ava wasn't like that. She was the type that wanted to be kissed, that deserved to be kissed. She deserved to be touched, to have her sexy body worshiped and that was not something he knew how to do.

With a grunt Daryl pushed away from the door and stormed down the hallway. He had no intention of falling asleep in another room, it wasn't safe and he knew it but he needed to wait her out. He to wait until she passed out before he went back into the room. Daryl didn't stop walking until he reached the end of the hall. He hit the wall and sank down to the floor. He tilted his head back and stared at the bedroom door.


	14. Chapter 14

_* Please Review! __**Jet:**__ Here you go! *_

When Ava woke, it was morning and she was still alone. She closed her eyes and inhaled to make herself wake up more. She really missed coffee. She rolled over and was stunned to see a bottle of water, toothpaste and a toothbrush sitting on the night stand. Daryl had come in after she went to sleep and left things for her. Had he slept in the bed again?

Ava pushed off the covers and gingerly swing her legs around. With a small whine, she stood up. She grabbed the three items he set out for her and carefully started towards the window. Her leg hurt so she was limping but she was walking, slowly, but she was doing it. She couldn't run but she wasn't going to be stuck in the bed.

Ava looked out the window and was surprised when she didn't see any walkers. Quietly she opened the window and waited. When there were no moaning or shuffling sounds reached her, she quickly worked at the screen until she was able to pop it out. She wasn't a fan of using a used toothbrush but she knew it hadn't been used in months and she hated morning breath.

As the warm morning breeze greeted her, Ava closed her eyes and sat on the window sil. She brushed her teeth and thought to herself how much Angel would love a morning like this. Angel had always been a morning person. She usually woke Ava up by crawling in bed with her big sister and tugging on her hair. Fall mornings were Angel's favorite because they were warm, not hot, and the leaves were just starting to change.

Ava spit out the toothpaste then closed the window. She left the bottled water, toothbrush and toothpaste on the window sil and decided to try and make it down the stairs. If her leg hurt too bad, she'd go back to bed but at least she'd know she had tried. She started towards the closed door, limping and grimacing slightly with every step. She would do this. She did not come this far to have a stupid fall stop her.

Daryl was standing by the kitchen table with his cross bow resting on top of it. He was opening one of the cans of fruit he had found in the cabinet. He was going to opened four cans, two cans for each of them and thought she might like fruit instead of the green beans he had found. The thought that he was concerned about what she might like surprised him but before he could think to hard about it, he heard a door from upstairs open. He frowned and looked up to the ceiling.

' What the hell is that stupid bitch doing?' He grunted and shook his head. He was going to try hard to not call her that, he had decided that morning. Daryl set the can down and grabbed up his cross bow before heading towards the stairs. With a frown he reached the bottom step at the same time Ava came to the top.

" Just what do you think you're fuckin doin?" He snapped.

" I need to pee." Ava said. She placed both hands on the railings. " And I can't just sit in that bed."

He placed his hands on the railings and leaned forward as he watched her take a step down on her good leg. She took a deep breath and stepped down on her injuried leg. He waited and watched a flash of pain go over her face. She closed her eyes and exhaled but damn if she didn't stop. Step on good leg, step on injured leg, grimace. Over and over she moved. When she drew closer to him, Daryl stood up straight. Her eyes were open and she was breathing hard but she was pushing through the pain he knew she was feeling.

" I did it." She said with her voice breathless as she reached the bottom stair.

" How the hell you gonna get back up there?" He asked. She smiled and shook her head, surprising him.

" I haven't figured that out yet." She said when she started pass him. " Is it safe outside? Can I go out there to pee?"

" Don't be goin too far and keep your eyes open." He said, walking behind her and watching how she limped. He didn't like the idea of her going out alone but doubted she'd agree to him being out there when she pissed. " Got your bow and arrows from the barn. They're on the table."

" Oh, Daryl, how sweet. You really know the way to a girl's heart." She said, making his eyebrows knit together.

" Just don't get your ass chewed on." He muttered.

Ava stepped outside and slowly looked around. It seemed peaceful and quiet outside but she knew how deceitful it truly was. Death could be lurking around every corner. She swallowed but started towards the back. She would walk to the barn, pee and come back. If she went to the barn, she knew Daryl wouldn't be able to see her. Ava had a shy bladder and she knew it. Even in the dead world, her bladder won't let her pee in front of anyone.

Ava watched around her as she undid her pants. She carefully and slowly started to bend down so she could pee. The Jack from the night before had built up in her system and she was relieved to get it out. With pain in her leg, she stood up and fixed her pants. She could almost forget people were attacking and eating each other. With a heavy heart and a groan, Ava pushed away from the barn and started back towards the house.

But she wasn't alone.

The sounds of groaning and moaning reached her, making Ava freeze. She turned to her right and sucked in her breath, hard. Shuffling towards her with one hand reaching for her, was a little dark haired girl. She was leaning to side as if her back were broken and her right leg was turned in. Her lips were missing, eaten off by the looks of it.

" Oh my God." Ava whispered as she started to back away from the walker.

_" I don't feel good." Angel whispered as she coughed. _

_" I know you don't. Just try and sleep." Ava said as she rubbed her sister's hand._

" Ava!" A rough voice with a deep southern accent shouted.

_" You're burning up." Ava whispered as she ran her hand through Angel's sweat soaked hair._

_" My whole body hurts." Angel whispered._

" No." Ava whispered as she continued to back away from the dead girl. It's milky blue eyes were locked on her.

" Sum a bitch!"

_" Angel, open your eyes! Please!" Ava cried as she rocked her sister's body. " Please!" Big tear drops fell onto the little face. Ava dropped her head down as her hair covered Angel's head. " Please no! Not her! Oh God, please no!"_

A tree hit Ava's back at the same time the walker's head was rocked to the side by an arrow. The walker dropped straight to the ground, making her jump. She looked up to the house to see Daryl slowly lowering his cross bow. He slung it around his back as he glared at her. He started running towards her the second the bow hit his back. She looked back at the walker and closed her eyes as her mind was overloaded with memories.

" What the fuck is wrong with you!" Daryl yelled as he reached her.

" I don't know." She said softly.

" You don't fuckin know!" He yelled.

" No." She said.

" Get in the house!" He yelled but when Ava didn't move, Daryl grabbed her arm and yanked her to him. She didn't look away from the walker. " Look at me!"

" I can't." She was frozen and part of him was pissed of because of it. He looked back at the walker then scanned the area before looking back at her.

" Let's go." He said as he started tugging her back to the house.

Something was wrong with her and it wasn't because of the walker. He had seen her take them out, again, she had saved him from two. She didn't get spooked but here she was, white as a sheet and not fighting him as he hurried them to the house. His right hand was locked down around her arm and he was holding her against him while he looked around.

" She was kid, Daryl." She said.

" Ain't a kid." Daryl grumbled. He grabbed the doorknob, pushed it open, and ushered her inside.

" She was a kid." Ava said.

" Ain't a kid, just some undead bastard." Daryl said, letting her arm slip from his grasp. He shut the door and locked it, looking outside the window to make sure they weren't drawing any other attention.

" She was a kid. A little girl." Ava said. Daryl turned around and stared at her but she wasn't looking at him. She was standing by the table with her hands on the chair. She was giving him her profile while staring at the table. " I think I need to go to bed. My hip is bothering me."

Daryl didn't say anything as she turned and started away from him. He watched her limp out of the kitchen and turned to head up the stairs. He listened as she struggled but didn't call out to him. With uncertainty moving through him, Daryl started after her. He reached the bottom of the steps and just watched.

Ava was holding her right hip with her right hand and her left hand was gripping the railing. She was taking the steps one at a time while she took deep, loud breaths. She was clearly in pain but wasn't babying herself or slowing down. She limped but she kept going. He squinted without thinking. His tongue darted out to lick across his bottom lip but he stayed right in his spot. She wasn't asking for help, he wasn't giving it. Her struggle up the stairs mirrored his struggle up the side of hill. She was in pain, he had been in pain. She didn't ask for help, he hadn't asked for help. She was him.

TWDTWDTWD

It was lunch time and still there was no sound or movement from the upstairs. Daryl had paced around the ground level of the house, biting his thumb nail and staring up the stairs. He wrestled with himself. Should he or shouldn't he go to check on her. He wanted too, but would that make him look weak in her eyes?

In the end he decided that she needed to eat. She skipped breakfast, he won't let her skip lunch. She needed to keep her strength up if they wanted any chance of getting out of the house and getting to her sister. She needed to eat to help her knee and hip heal. Daryl grabbed the two bowls of fruit he had poured into for her breakfast and started up the stairs. Yeah, going up to see her to make her eat wasn't going up the stairs to make sure she was okay.

He was surprised that as he walked up the stairs, he was nervous. He took his steps slow and quiet. He was listening for her but still, she made no noise. If she was sleeping he'd leave the food for her like he did the toothbrush and toothpaste. As he reached the hallway, he saw the bedroom door was partially open. He could see the bed and it was empty. He frowned, wondering where she was.

When he walked into the room, he saw her sitting on the window sil with the window open. A light breeze was blowing, picking up strands her hair that were loose from the bun she had through it up into. He cleared his throat, hoping to get her attention, but she didn't turn. With his eyes narrowed down, he set the bowls on the bed and walked over to her.

" What are you doin?" Daryl asked.

" Just enjoying the breeze and quiet." Ava answered with her eyes closed. He slipped down across from her on the window sill. He watched her, wondering what was playing through her mind.

" I brought you sumthin to eat and you need to eat it." He said. Ava let out her breath loudly and shook her head, opening her green eyes.

" No." She said.

" What the hell you mean no?" Daryl snapped.

" Why are we doing this, Daryl? I mean, really? What is the point of going on? Wouldn't it just be easier to be one of the dead?" Ava asked.

" Fuck no it wouldn't be."

" I think I'm half way there already." Ava said. Daryl's jaw started to slowly work back and forth.

" What the hell you mean by that?" He asked. Ava sighed and looked outside. " What about your sister? What about that lil girl?" Ava chuckled.

" My sister is dead, just like me, just like you."

" We ain't dead. We can still feel shit." Daryl said. Ava shook her head.

" Not me. I can't feel anything anymore." She said.

Daryl pursed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. She was losing hope. He could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. But if she lost hope, he'd never find her sister and he refused to lose another little girl. In a flash, Daryl was standing up. His right hand grabbed her left arm. He yanked her up and against him, throwing his left hand into her hair. Her eyes went wide as she looked at him.

" You feel that?" He hissed as he closed his fist in her hair. " You feel me touchin you? That makes you alive. That makes you better than those dead people walkin around out there, waitin to eat you. You gonna stop talkin that shit, you hear me?"

" Daryl..." She whispered.

" You wanna feel sumthin else?" He growled.

When she didn't answer him, he pulled on her hair, forcing her head to tilt up. To her surprise, his head came flying down. Her lips parted in shock and her eyes shut. She waited for him to kiss her, was sure he was going too, but nothing happen. Where she expected to feel his lips, all she got was his hot breath. He was almost panting. Ava opened her eyes and saw his head was tilted and his eyes were shut. He only had to more less than half an inch and he'd be kissing her.

" Do it." She whispered, closing her eyes again.

Man, he wanted too. Her arms went under his arms and her hands took a hold of his shoulders but still Daryl couldn't close the distance between them. She was soft as she pressed against him. She was soft while he was hard. He knew she felt his hesitation because she started to pull away. Without thinking, his arm tighten around her waist. His tongue went out to go over his bottom lip but he hit hers instead. It was just the sort of touch that made him want to yank away from her and make her want to come into him. She acted before he did.

She pressed her lips to his hard. He was flat against her, non-responsive but he was breathing hard. His breath fanned across her skin, hot and fast. His heart was slamming through his chest and against hers. He wanted it. He wanted the kiss but he wasn't acting. Ava opened her eyes again and saw he was squeezing his shut. Ava closed hers again and parted her lips.

And he followed her example. The second she felt his lips open, she pushed her tongue forward. She caressed the tip of his tongue and was reward when he finally moved. He shoved it forward and into her mouth while he groaned. His right hand went into a fist then opened against her lower back. She twisted around his tongue and started to slowly lick along him. He grabbed her ass and started making her rub against his erection. Chills swept through him as she rubbed against the head of his penis. He hadn't felt anything that good in while. Not even jerking off felt that good.

He turned them so her back was to the bed and started forcing her to walk backwards. She tilted her head the other way, making him to twist in the opposite direction. The bed hit the back of her legs, making her fall back. Rather than pulling away from her, Daryl followed her down. She tasted amazing and was sending burst of fire through him. He didn't want it to end. He liked the way she was making him feel and he wanted more. He wanted inside her, sure it would feel even more amazing.

As soon as Daryl's hips hit hers, a flash of pain went through her right side. She cried out against his lips. The sounded rocked Daryl back into his senses. He opened his eyes and pulled away enough to look at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were swollen. He was panting, harder than he ever had been. Embarrassment flooded him and he yanked away from her.

" It's okay!" Ava said quickly. " It's just my hip!" She reached up to grab his shirt but Daryl wrenched out of her grip. " Don't go! Please!"

Daryl threw one hand into his hair as the room closed in on him. He couldn't get out of the room fast enough. He needed air and he needed it now.


	15. Chapter 15

_* Please Review. I love you guys, remember that*_

Ava laid on her back and stared at the ceiling of the bedroom for a long time. His kiss was burned on her lips. She was fingering them and running her tongue over the roof of her mouth, still tasting him. She shook her head and sighed. What, the hell, was wrong with this man? He wanted her, she had felt it, ALL of it. He knew she wanted him so why wasn't he taking her? She dropped her hand and sat up.

Carefully and slowly, Ava made her way out of the room and to the stairs. She called out to him but heard nothing in return. She made her way down the stairs, groaning softly at the pain. She had almost made it to the bottom stair when she heard one of the kitchen chairs scratch along the floor. She called out to him again but still there was nothing. As Ava limped into the kitchen she caught a flash of his leather clad back disappearing down the stairs to the basement. She sighed and shook her head. He wanted to be alone, fine. She turned and started back towards the bedroom. Let him be alone.

Daryl wandered around the unfinished basement of the house with his thoughts dark and his body hard. He stormed through the four rooms. He stalked. He paced. He put his back to one wall and slipped down to the floor. He swept his hand over his lips then let his head come to rest against the wall and closed his eyes. He brought his forearms to his knees and clasped his hands together.

He wasn't sure how long he sat down there but after a while it grew dark. He could see that through one of the basement windows. He worked his jaw back and forth. He gritted his teeth together. He closed his eyes, he opened them. Finally, his mind was made up. She wanted him, she was going to get him. What did he care how she felt about it? What should he care if she enjoyed herself? He knew he would. Sex always felt good and he needed something good. He needed sex and he was going to get it. Ava was playing with fire when she messed with him.

With a grunt, Daryl pushed himself up off the floor. He moved with his steps steady and his mind shut down. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth was tight. His body was ready for her, reaching out for her. He reached down and adjust himself as he hurried up the stairs. He was so hard, his dick was hitting his zipper and it hurt.

He crossed the kitchen and silently climbed the stairs. He was going to go into the room, yank off her pants and fuck her. He needed it. He'd fuck her and get it out of his system. Then he could figure out the shit he needed too, like how to get them out of the town and back to his group. He'd go to the clinic, get her sister and deal with his brother. Either way, he'd get laid and be done thinking about her.

At least, that's what he thought would happen.

He pushed the door open, making her jump when it hit the wall. She was back sitting at the window sil. She looked at him in shock. Daryl filled the doorway like a hard mass of angry man. Ava held her breath and stood up slowly. She swallowed hard at the anger that was coming off him in waves. He didn't move. She didn't move. They just stared for a few seconds before she said,

" What's wrong?" With a grunt, Dary shook his head. " Then why are you staring at me like that?"

" You know why." He snapped.

" I don't...know." She said. Daryl stepped into the room and took a hold of the door. He turned, shut and locked it then faced her again. He grabbed his cross bow straps and pulled it over his head. Without taking his eyes from her, he set it down by the bed then headed over to her.

" You want me, here I am." Daryl's voice was low and husky. Her lips parted as her breath left her hard. She shut her mouth and swallowed.

" Now?" She whispered.

" You got sumthin better to do?" Daryl asked. He was crossing the room slowly. He was moving like she was his prey. He was stalking her.

" No." She said.

" So now I ain't good enough for you or sumthin?" Daryl spit out. Ava shook her head.

" I didn't say that. I..."

" You what?" Daryl asked as he reached her. He stared down into her face. Ava took a shuttering breath. The look on his face, the heat in his eyes, was making it hard for her breath. " You what? Say it."

" I..."

" What?" He asked a little louder.

" I..."

" You what!" Daryl almost yelled.

" I want you." Ava admitted.

Daryl's eyes briefly shut as her confession washed over him. His earlier thoughts and intentions went out the window. What was he doing? Who was he kidding? He couldn't be with this girl. This wasn't a fuck them and leave them girl. He was stuck. He started this, now he couldn't back down. Not again. He couldn't run out on her like he had done before. He wasn't a pussy.

" Here I fuckin am." He snapped. He was there but now he didn't know what to do. So they stared at each other for a few minutes again, both waiting for the other to move or act. Finally he said, " Well? You just gonna stand there starin? Get your shirt off."

It won't work, Daryl thought. She'd get mad that he was ordering her around and she'd tell him where to go. They'd fight, he'd get to leave and she'd completely leave him alone. But that's not what happen. To Daryl's horror, and excitement, Ava's hands went to the edge of her shirt. She pulled it over her head and dropped it straight to the floor. His eyes went to her tits as his breath caught.

" I don't..." Ava's arms crossed over her chest. " it's just, the bruises, the cuts." She dropped her eyes and he realized she was just as nervous and unsure as he was. She also had scars on her ribs from Merle's attacks. He had been cutting her a lot, but why? They weren't deep enough to kill her, Daryl could tell by the look of the faint lines. Maybe she caught the knife in her attempts to defend herself. " I didn't always look like this."

" Ain't nothin wrong with how you look." Daryl heard himself say. Ava's beautiful green eyes went to his face quickly. She smiled at how his own eyes were taking her in. There was lust and hunger on his face and it excited her.

Daryl wanted her, even more now than he had before. He didn't even care about his brother's work. He watched as Ava's hands went to her back. She undid the clasp of her bra and slowly pulled it away from her. The teasing motion made him take a step towards her without thinking. Of course it wasn't him moving. It was his dick, pulling him towards her.

He took in her breasts, her tight nipples, her toned stomach. Was he breathing? He wasn't sure at the moment then she took a hold of her jeans and undid the button. His breath left him in a rush, again. There was no going back now. As she pushed her jeans down and stepped out of them, he knew in that moment there was no way he could get out of it. Not that he really wanted too.

Daryl wasn't moving. He wasn't trying to undress, he was just staring. Ava bit into her bottom lip nervously and pushed herself forward. She had never stood in front of a man, in only her panties and not had the man react. Maybe he didn't know how to do this. She frowned and thought, that that couldn't be right. A man that looked like him had to have had plenty of women throwing themselves at him.

But maybe not. He didn't seem to know how to react when she kissed him. And having a brother like Merle couldn't have been easy on him. So that was how she found herself stepping into him and raising her arms up to his chest. She undid one shirt button and then the next. And the next, and the next until his flannel shirt was open. She reached up and pushed the shoulders of the shirt down. Without him helping her, Ava managed to push the flannel down and off him. He wasn't shirtless though. He still had on his wife beater tank top.

Daryl was stunned as she took a hold of his belt. They locked eyes as she tugged on it. She undid his worn belt quickly. Her small hands went right to work against the button of his pants. He couldn't move, even if he wanted too, there was no way he could move, to help or stop her. He was completely powerless. Everything in him was alive in one moment. As she started to undo his zipper, his eyes went shut.

Ava kept her teeth against her lip to keep herself from smiling. While she pulled the zipper down, Daryl actually groaned. He was so hard that she didn't really need to pull hard, his length was pushing the zipper down. He all by tumbled into her hand. Ava had to hold her breath. He was hot and strong through his boxers. Ava brought her hands to his waist and pushed at his pants. Without the belt to hold them up, his pants dropped to the floor.

His eyes opened and she was shocked at how dark they looked. He was still frowning and squinting, making Ava wonder if Daryl Dixon ever smiled. He was about to get laid, he should be happy but instead, he looked annoyed and a little angry. If she couldn't see him sticking out of the slit in his boxers, she would think he didn't want her.

Daryl was frozen to his spot. Even when Ava brought herself completely against him. Even when her breasts came in contact with his chest. Even as his dick jerked into her stomach. What was he supposed to do here? Was she going to laugh at him now? She had to know he was completely out of his element there. She had to know he had no experience with women like this.

" Touch me." She whispered. As if he was running on autopilot, Daryl's hands came up to her sides. She took a hold of his wrists, stepped away from him and brought his hands to her breasts. " Here."

His hands worked on their own. His thumbs swept over her nipples, making her whine and close her eyes. Daryl's eyes went from her breasts to her face again, surprised at her reaction to him. She enjoyed what he was doing, not repulsed by it. He flicked his thumbs over her again, making her whine again. Maybe he could do this. Maybe he could make her feel good.

" Get on the bed." Daryl heard himself say.

Ava's eyes popped open at his words. He grunted and hitched his head towards the bed. She didn't need to told twice. She moved pass him and pulled the blankets down as he put his back to the bed. She climbed in, he sat down. He leaned down and quickly started undoing the laces of his boots. When they were down, he pushed them off then yanked his pants off. This was happening, he was going to have sex with a girl while she was completely naked. He had only seen completely naked girls in porns, magazines or with Merle. Daryl stood up and turned, surprised to see she was, in fact, completely naked. She was staring up at him, just waiting. Using the moonlight through the window, he drank in the sight of her. She had her belly button pierced and a tattoo of fairy on lower on her stomach, on the right side.

" Are you going to take off your shirt?" Ava asked. Daryl looked down at his dirty tank top with the small holes and the rip in his shoulder then back up at her and shook his head. " Why not?" Without thinking, his hand flew up to the right side of his chest, where she could see a large scar.

" I ain't pretty under here." He said with his voice still low and rough.

" Me either. Your brother made sure of that." She said, noting how his eyes swept down her again.

" You ain't like me." Daryl muttered.

" I'm just like you. Only my wounds are fresh. My bruises aren't fully healed. Yours are. If you can look at me like this," She motioned to a nasty, yellowed bruise on the right side of her ribs, " then I can look at you how you are." Swallowing hard. Daryl yanked his shirt off, ready to see the horror that would be on her face when she finally saw all his scars. But it wasn't horror. She bit back into her lip and opened her legs. " Your boxers." She whispered. Daryl grabbed the waistband of his boxers and pushed them down. Her eyes shut and she sighed loudly.

_* really, are you guys surprised?*_


	16. Chapter 16

_* Please Review! __**Caffiend04:**__ I don't even have shrubs!*_

Nothing was happening like he thought it would, like he expected it to go. As he laid down between her legs and brought his stomach to hers, he expected her to be disgusted. But she wasn't. When his chest started to come down to touch hers, he expected her to pull away, to not want his rough, marked up skin against her soft, perfect one. But she didn't. Instead, she moved her left leg to give him more room. She brought her hands to his sides and closed her eyes.

" Daryl." His name was a whisper that went across his lips as they came close to hers.

" You sure you want this?" He whispered as he stared down at her.

" Yes." He reached between them and took a hold of himself with his right hand. His left forearm was by her head, supporting his upper body.

" Can't change your mind now." He growled out. But she could and he knew it. All she had to do was tell him to leave and he was out. He was actually waiting for that to come.

" Please?" She asked instead. As he moved into her, she let out a low moan. His eyes snapped shut while her body took him deep. She stretched to fit him and it was amazing.

" Sum a bitch." He moaned out.

They set the rhythm and pace together. His thrusts were strong but his mental state was anything but. He squeezed his eyes shut, scared that if he opened them he'd see it was just a dream. It had to be. It felt far too good to be the real thing. It was nothing like his other sexual experiences. She moved with him, she panted, she was enjoying him.

Daryl opened his eyes and raised his chest off of her so he could watch them while they moved. He needed to make sure it was happening. With his hands in fists he watched himself disappeared inside her then start to pull away again. He watched as she raised her hips to suck him in then lower them back down to let him out. He was rock hard, harder than he ever had been in his entire life. This was sex, this wasn't a cheap fuck from the town whore against the bar alley or in his truck. This was sex with a woman who wanted him.

Ava grabbed his face and tilted it up. She raised her head and smashed her lips to his. Her breath was coming out in a frantic pace, it completely matched his. His right hand went down and wrapped around the back of her left knee. He pulled it up to give himself move room to move. Heat spread through him as their tongues fought against each other. Everything nerve inside his body was feeling the sex. He was making noises he had never made during sex before. He groaned, he grunted, he moaned.

Ava whimpered hard and loud. She grabbed him by his hair and pulled it as she tried to force him to move faster. She was actually going to have an orgasm from sex alone and she didn't want something to happen that would make her lose that. She was sweating and covered in his sweat but she didn't care. An orgasm was coming and it was coming fast. The orgasm was uncoiling it's self deep inside her and before she could really ready herself, it burst out of her so hard she yanked away from his mouth and cried out.

Hearing her cumming, seeing her face while it was happening was too much for Daryl. He slammed himself home until he couldn't get any farther inside her and released his hot cum in a loud bark.

" Sum of a bitch!" It wasn't quiet that time. It wasn't a moan. It was the strangled sound of a man enjoying his first deep, soul bending orgasm. He had had them before but they were nothing like the one he was having with Ava.

When it was done, he felt like he couldn't move. His body felt heavy. He let his forehead come to rest against her collarbone. Her chest was heaving from her pants. Daryl was struggling to control his own breathing. He closed his eyes and turned his head, letting his ear come to rest over her heart. He could hear and feel it pounding, glad it sounded just like his. Her hands relaxed in his hair. His flatten out on the bed by her sides.

" Oh my God." Ava whispered, making Daryl open his eyes and tense. She sighed and started combing her fingers through his hair slowly. He felt himself start to relax again. " Wow, Daryl, that was..." She shook her head as words left her.

" Was what?" He asked as he stared into the darkness.

" So good. If it always like this with you?" Ava asked.

' No.' Daryl answered in his head. Out loud he said,

" Gotta get dressed. Ain't safe to stay like this."

" Just a few more minutes? Please?" Ava asked. Last thing she wanted to lose the warmth that was Daryl Dixon. And she was scared of his reaction. What if he pulled away, got dressed and left her like was his habit? Without thinking she pressed his head into her chest more, as if she could hold him to her.

He didn't want to move anymore than she seemed to want him too. Inside her was warm and welcoming. He was cover in their sex and sweat, hers and his. She was scratching her nails against his scalp and he briefly entertained the idea of falling asleep inside and on top of her. It was comfortable. It was comfortable, but it wasn't safe. They needed to get dressed, just in case.

" It's time." Daryl muttered as he pulled away from her. A rush of cold air hit him as he shifted his hips to pull out of her. He refused to look at her face. He was worried what he would see there. Would she regret it? Could he handle it if she did? Could he take it if she regretted what he considered to be the best sex of his life?

Daryl turned so he could sit on the bed. Ava carefully pulled her legs up so she could sit up too. He risked a glance to her and was surprised to see her cheeks flushed and the smile on her face. He was even more surprised when she stood up, humming. He snatched up his boxers while she slipped on her thongs. He stayed quiet, getting dressed slowly while she hummed and happily tossed her own clothes on.

" What the hell you hummin for?" He snapped without thinking. Ava laughed and threw on the pajama pants she had found in one of the bedrooms.

" Because for the first time in a long time, I feel great!" She said. She linked her hands together and stretched her arms over her head. Daryl yanked up his jeans and did the zipper and button before he fixed his belt. She climbed back into the bed and seemed to be waiting for him. " That was just what I needed. Hurry up and come to bed." She said as she patted the spot by her.

Dary snatched up his cross bow then walked around the bed with his jeans and wife beater on. He had his boots on but didn't tie the laces. He had to admit she was right. He felt great. He couldn't name the last time he felt that good. He was relaxed. His body felt great. He was tired but it was a good tire. Yeah, it was just what he needed too.

TWDTWDTWD

In the morning, Daryl was surprised that he woke up alone. He whipped over from his right side to his back and almost jumped out of bed. The sun was streaming through the window and the room was nice and warm. He grabbed his shoes and shoved them on. As fast as he could he did the laces then stood up and grabbed his cross bow. He hurried from the room, needing to find her and make sure she was okay.

And she was. She was smiling to herself as she poured some canned fruit into two waiting bowls.

" Good morning." She said to him when he appeared in the kitchen.

" You didn't wake me up." Daryl said. His voice was still laced with sleep. He cleared his throat and quickly shook his head.

" No, I didn't. You looked cute plus, I knew you have been getting up early. There is a bottle water and toothpaste upstairs in our room. Do you like pears or peaches?" Ava asked. He frowned as he stared at her. " It doesn't matter. I will eat either one." She finished spooning the fruit out then pushed the bowl towards him with a smile.

" I gotta piss." Daryl muttered as he started towards the door.

" It's clear out there." Ava said.

He really just needed some air. She was in the best mood he had ever seen her in. It couldn't be because they had sex, could it be? It had to be because he was feeling the same. He glanced back at her when he reached the kitchen door. She was still humming to herself. Daryl frowned and turned towards the door again. He yanked it open and stepped outside.

" Fuck." Daryl muttered to himself when he undid his zipper.

He was hard. He hated pissing when he was hard. He pushed his dick down and tried to hurry. He didn't want to stay out any longer than he had to be. Daryl frowned down at himself. What was he thinking? He didn't have to suffer with a hard on. He had a welcoming body out there, just waiting for him to come in and take her. He hurried up, gave himself a shake and tucked it back in. He was going to brush his teeth then hurry towards her. He needed to take her not only because he wanted her but because he wanted to make sure she wasn't lying about feeling great after their sex.

Ava was singing as Daryl bust into the kitchen again. He slammed the door, locked it then breezed pass her without a word. Ava opened her mouth to speak to him but Daryl was moving so fast she closed it right away. Maybe he wasn't a morning person. He wasn't really an afternoon or evening person either but she had thought that after the sex they had shared, he'd be in a decent mood the morning after.

Ava walked around the table and to one of the cabinets. She looked through it to find something to add to the fruit. She pushed some spices around until she found some cinnamon and nutmeg. She shut the cabinet only to jump and scream at the sight of Daryl standing in front of her. She dropped the spices but his arm shot out and caught them. Without taking his eyes from hers, he set them on the counter then took a hold of her.

Ava was all smiles as he turned and started towards stairs, tugging her along with him. He didn't say a thing as he climbed the stairs but she did notice he took the steps one at a time. Once they reached the top, he pulled her towards the bedroom, still using no words. He moved into the room, pulled her in then closed the door behind them.

And he took her hard and fast on the bed. She gripped his hips with her nails digging into his skin as he thrust. He held onto the bed as if his life depended on it, drilling as hard as he dared while be mindful of her sore leg. She took him in, all of him and moaned out. He cursed, hissed and arched his back. She came in a blinding rush, forcing his orgasm out. His mouth fell open and his eyes snapped shut.

" Motherfucker!" He almost yelled as he pushed hard into her. His dick jerked, her inner muscles tighten. She threw her head back and let him completely take control of her body.

He needed that morning after sex and not just because he wanted to get off but because he needed to know she didn't regret him or what had happen between them. He needed to know it wasn't going to be a one time thing, that she still wanted him even after she had had him.


	17. Chapter 17

_* Please Review!*_

Daryl's hands were tight on her hips as she rode him hard. His hips came off the bed than slammed back down. His head went back as his eyes went shut. Daryl's mouth opened while he breathed hard. She had her hands planted on his shoulders and was panting loudly. Daryl pulled his legs up and opened them because he had to move. The sensations were moving through his entire body and were almost too much for him to bear. It felt too good for him to be still. He had never known sex could feel that good.

" Oh God!" He opened his eyes at her words.

Ava threw her head back with her tits bouncing in the air. He grunted because there were no words he could use. She whimpered and lowered her head with her eyes shut. One of her hands slapped him on the chest as his name escaped her lips. Her perfect lips that only moments before had been wrapped tight around his cock. Yeah, he had had blow jobs before but from girls that were bored when they were doing it and he had never been able to get off. He had always had to push them off him and finish by jerking off. But Ava had been different. She had sucked at him like nothing could bring her more pleasure.

Ava's body started to tremble and he knew, without a doubt, that she was starting to cum. Her nails dug into the skin of his shoulder and chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and her mouth opened. It was to much for Daryl to stand. He slammed her hips down, forcing her body to take in his entire length as he flew into her body in a rush of fluid. He gripped her so hard through his orgasm that he knew she'd have new bruises on top of the healing ones. When did orgasms become an entire body experience?

Ava fell forward hard, coming down on his bare chest. Her head was turned towards him and her breath was coming out fast paced against his neck. She brought her right hand to his head and buried it into his hair. She was whimpering softly while her body still contracted around his dick. Daryl's chest was heaving as he struggled to get control of himself.

" Wow." Ava breathed out. " Just wow. I swear, you were built for sex." Daryl glanced at her but her eyes were closed so he looked back to the ceiling of the bedroom. No one had ever said that to him before. He kept his right hand on her hip and brought his left arm up and over his head. Her nails scratched against his scalp and he felt himself relaxing at the feeling. " I have never had a day like this."

Daryl hadn't either. They had spend the day in the bedroom. They had sex on the bed, on the floor, against the wall and on the bed again. He had held her against the wall, drilling into her with his muscles tight. At first, she had whined when he picked her up, making him remember her sore hip. When he had started to put her down, she resisted, loudly. She had taught him positions he had seen but never tried before. She rode him, facing his legs and holding his ankles, while telling him to touch her. She made him sit up against the bed while she straddled him and rocked her hips with him buried deeply inside her. She had even let he fuck her from behind.

" New for me." Daryl muttered. Ava sighed loudly as he felt himself start to slip out of her.

" I'm going to be sore tomorrow." She said. Daryl frowned hard. He hadn't thought much about her hip and knee. He had only been thinking about her warm, naked body and how good it felt to cum inside her. Now, if she was sore, that meant at least one more day they would be stuck in town. Not that he really minded, if he'd let himself admit it.

" Ain't gonna do this tomorrow." He heard himself mutter. Ava frowned, opened her eyes and pushed herself up to look down at his face.

" What? Why not? Didn't you like it? It sure seemed like you have liked it." She said.

A blush spread over his face, surprising her at first, but then she remembered his brother. If Daryl's life growing up with Merle was like her time with him then Daryl had learned, early on, to not show pain and that meant he wouldn't show pleasure either. Merle would have conditioned Daryl to not show anything, fear, pain, happiness, or pleasure.

" Ain't bout that." Daryl snapped as he started to sit up. His hands came to her shoulders to guide her off him. She moved to his left side to give him the space she knew he needed. Daryl swung around and reached down to the floor to snatch up his boxers. He stepped into them and slipped them up, only lifting off the bed to pull them the whole way up. " We can't stay here forever. We got shit to do, people to depend on me and you. We got to get to the clinic to get your sister." Ava sighed and dropped her eyes as he started to get dressed.

" Yeah." She commented.

" I'm goin downstairs to check shit out. Get dressed." Daryl ordered once he had all his clothes on. She frowned and shook her head. It felt like he was dismissing her as if he hadn't spend the whole day inside her.

Daryl closed the door to the bedroom after he stepped out. He needed a break from her. He didn't want it but he needed it. He closed his eyes and, for a minute, allowed himself to remember the way she sounded during sex, the way she felt. His lips parted as his breath left him. His body should be tired and stay soft after everything but he was starting to harden up again. He was raising up through his boxers. Daryl frowned, opened his eyes and pushed away from the door with a grunt.

No. He had had her enough. He stormed away from the bedroom, refusing to allow himself to think about what was on the other side of the door. He needed to check the house over, as he did every night. He would check the windows to see if any walkers were around then check the doors again. He knew he had locked them but it was always better to double check everything plus, he needed to get them something to eat. Something other than each other's bodies.

Sometime during the night, Daryl felt himself being pulled from sleep. He drew his eyebrows together and he frowned without opening his eyes. Ava giggled into his ear as her hand wrapped around him. He thrust himself up into her hand and smashed his teeth together. Why the hell did his dick want her so much? Why the hell did he want her so much?

" Don't deny it, Daryl." She whispered into his ear. " I woke up to you hard in my back so let me take care of that."

He couldn't deny her if he wanted too. He found himself reaching out for her without even thinking. She laughed again as she straddled his lap and took him in deep.

TWDTWDTWD

She was right. She was sore the next day although she tried to hide it from him. He frowned as she favored her good leg when she thought he wasn't looking. It was his fault and he knew it. If he could just get a hold of himself, she would be fine and they might have even been able to leave town. He fucked her in the middle of the night but now he was done. He was not going to take her again.

But he did. Again and again. He couldn't stop himself. He wanted her, she wanted him. His body knew just how good it felt to be inside her and it wanted her. He was a man, she was a hot woman, a woman who wanted sex from him. Of course he wanted her. What surprised him was how much she wanted to touch him in a nonsexual way.

When they weren't having sex, she would touch his arms, chest, or back. When he was keeping watch at the windows, Ava would make her way to him and rub his back or arms. At first he didn't like it. He wasn't used to being touched and had pulled away a few times but Ava hadn't stopped. Slowly, Daryl found himself relaxing under her touch, even enjoying it. He looked forward to it.

Their fourth night there, after the sex, she had ran her nails lightly down his back until he fell asleep. A few times, during their days together, she would run her hands through his hair and he hated to admit that he loved it. They talked too. Well, she talked and he listened, injecting a few comments every once and a while at first but talking to her got easier and easier. Daryl found himself talking about his childhood. He told her about getting lost and having no one to look for him. She was laying on her stomach in the bed with her ankles locked together and her arms crossed. Her chin was rested on her arms and her legs were slinging slightly. She was completely naked as she listened to him talk. He was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. His knees were bent and his forearms were resting on them. He had to sit on the floor. From his view point, he could only see her face and arms and that meant he could focus.

" And no one came for you?" Ava asked.

" Ain't no one knew I was gone. My mama was dead, Merle was gone and my daddy was hookin up with a waitress." Daryl muttered.

" Daryl's that's awful." She said.

" Wasn't so bad. I made it through, was alright." He said.

" But weren't you scared? I mean, didn't you wonder where everyone was?" She asked.

" Wasn't like that at my place. I knew no one was gonna come for me. I wanted to live, I had to take care of myself." Daryl said.

" So you have had to be strong your whole life." She commented, making Daryl nod. " Wow, that's kind of amazing." Daryl shifted, sitting up more and she knew she had hit a nerve. He didn't like it when she said nice things to him but she didn't care. He deserved the compliments.

" Ain't nothin great. You had to do the same when your parents died. You had to take care of your sister, you had to grow up fast." Daryl said.

" Not really. I mean, I was twenty-five when our parents were killed, already grown." Ava said.

" Maybe but bet you had a life, shit you had to stop to take care of a four year old." Daryl commented, making her nod.

" Yeah. I mean, I partied which came to a stop because Angel needed me. She was really messed up after their deaths. She was scared of everything. She hated cars and never wanted me to leave her. She even slept in bed with me. I had to deal with her grief and mine. It didn't help that the boyfriend I had ditched me." Ava said. Daryl's eyes narrowed down right away as he frowned. He couldn't stand the idea of another man touching her, being around her when she was naked. Leaving her when she needed someone the most.

" Sum a bitch, pussy." He muttered as he looked away.

" Yeah, he kind of was." She said with a soft laugh that pulled his eyes back to her face. " I have dated some not so good guys in the past."

Again the comment made him have an almost physical reaction. It made him angry. No man needed to touch her. No man but him needed to kiss her, taste her. Kissing. Yeah, he liked kissing her. He liked feeling her lips against his almost as much as he liked having her touch him. No, no man was going to do that to her again. It was for him and him only.

" Ain't got to worry bout that anymore." Daryl said.

" Well yeah. I'm sure they are walkers by now." Ava said.

" I ain't talkin about them comin after you." He said. " Ain't no man gonna bother you again."

" And why's that?" She asked. " Because you're here?"

" Damn right." The two words came out strong, stronger than Daryl had meant it too and he wanted to be embarrassed by his outburst but she smiled and brighten up at the comment.

" Tell me about your girlfriends." She said.

" Ain't nothin to tell. Ain't had any." Daryl said.

" Really? How is that possible? I mean, you're so hot." Ava said.

" Merle." Was the only answer he needed to give. They both understood what that meant.

" Your brother is a dick." Ava said softly.

They continued talking until late into the night. They traded stories about their past. She told him about her childhood and her life with her parents. He told her about his mother's death and, for the first ever, admitted how lost he had felt when she passed. She talked about high school, he talked about learning how to hunt and track. She told him about her dad teaching her how to drive, he told her that he taught himself.

They ended the night with him on top of her, thrusting his hips until she broke apart under him and he froze inside her. Afterwards, while she curled herself around him, Daryl started forming a plan. He was going to get her sister and her away from Merle and keep them away. He was not going to leave his group either. No one was going to be hurt by his brother anymore, least of all the woman holding him like Daryl was her life line.


	18. Chapter 18

_* Please Review!*_

On the morning of the seventh day, Daryl knew they needed to leave no matter what. He needed to get to the clinic. He needed to help her sister. She liked him, she trusted him, she might even actually care of him and that made him want to get to the little girl. He would ship them off with Rick, knowing the ex-cop would care for them until Daryl could get back to her. Because he was going to get back to her then he and the group would find some place safe to set up.

" Wake up, Ava." Daryl said as he pulled up his pants. She had convinced him to sleep in his boxers and boxers alone. He had wanted to fight her on it but she started rubbing his back and kissing his neck. Words were lost to him than.

" No. I'm tired." Ava grumbled as she snuggled more into the bed.

" No. Get up." He ordered while he adjusted his belt.

" No, it's your fault I'm tired." She said.

" Ain't the one who made you put your mouth on my dick." He snapped as the memory washed over him, making him harden up right away. Ava giggled but don't move. Daryl shook his head, grabbed his flannel and walked to the end of the bed. He grabbed the end of the blankets. " I said get up!" He yelled as he yanked the blankets off her. Ava jumped and cried out in surprise.

" Daryl!" She yelled while trying to grab it back.

" No." He said. " We are leaving." Ava fell back onto her back and shook her head at him.

" Why don't you just climb on top of me instead?" She asked. She didn't miss how his eyes flicked down her bare legs despite him flicking his head to the side.

" Can't." He said with his voice husky. " Ain't got time for that." Because the chances were good if they started to having sex, they'd do it all day. He had never had sex as much in his life as he had being with Ava.

" Please, " She begged, making her voice soft and arching her back the way he liked. She closed her eyes and let her hand travel up her inner thigh. He moved without her even knowing it. His strong hand gripped her wrist, making her open her eyes. His legs were spread and she could see his hard on through his pants.

" Stop." He ordered as he tried to glare down at her.

" But you want me." She said. She reached up to stroke him but his other hand grabbed her.

" Ain't about that. We need to leave. Get your ass dressed and ready. We are headed out in ten minutes." And with that, he walked out of the room.

Daryl waited in the kitchen for her to come down. He had paid close attention to her knee and hip the day before and knew she was better, not 100% but better plus he had gotten a good look at her bare knee and knew the swelling had gone down. They were going to walk through the backyards of the town then follow the road and the woods to the camp. If need be, he'd carry her. It wasn't ideal but he'd do what he had to do.

" I'm ready." Ava said quietly as she walked into the kitchen.

" Packed up two backpacks. You gonna carry one on your back and one on your front. Have an arrow ready on your bow at all times. We gonna move quietly. Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut, you here me?" Daryl asked. Ava sighed and nodded. He narrowed his eyes. She looked worried, almost scared. " Ain't got a reason to be scared. I'm gonna take care of this." Ava bit into her bottom lip as she met his eyes. Something flashed over her face that made him come to her. Surprising himself, he reached up to her mouth and swept his thumb across her upper lip. Her breath escaped her as she closed her eyes and tried to lean into his touch. Daryl dropped his hand right away, making her open her eyes. " Had toothpaste on you." He muttered.

After Ava was suited up with the backpacks and her bow and arrow were readied, they started out of the house. Ava was behind him with her stomach a mess. They were making their way through the backyards, looking and listening. At first, the only sound they could hear was the birds calling out their good mornings. But by the third backyard Daryl stopped walking and held up one hand. They listen to the sounds of steps coming from around the house. Ava stepped up to his side, making him glance at her before looking back away. Both readied their bows. A second later Glenn stopped out. He jumped and held his hands up.

" Don't shoot!" He said quickly, making both lower their arms. Rick hurried to the younger man's side.

" I can't believe we found you." He said. Both he and the hunter came forward and grasps the other man's forearms. " We have been searching for days."

" Figured as much. Girl hurt her hip and knee. We were hold up in a house down there." Daryl said as they dropped arms.

" We have been searching the houses and the stores. We thought you were staying in either one of these or a store." Rick explained.

" We should go now that we found them." Glenn said nervously as he looked around.

Daryl reached out to Ava and took a hold of her arm. Quickly the four started through the town with Daryl's hand locked down on her arm still. They jogged and walked when she needed too. Thankfully, they reached the truck with a single walker sighting. Daryl opened the door to the truck and helped her in then shut the door and climbed into the bed where he rode with Glenn.

Back at camp, Daryl hopped out of the truck and opened the door to the truck. To most people's surprise, he took Ava's hand and helped her out of the cab, closing the door behind her. Without a word to anyone or a glance around. he took one backpack off the front of her then the one at her back. He slung both over his shoulders and started leading her towards his tent. He wanted to stash the bags then make better plans with Rick.

" We need to talk." Ava said softly when he reached the tent.

" Ain't got to talk. Everythin's gonna be fine." Daryl muttered. He dropped her arm and opened his tent up.

" No, we really need to talk, alone, please." She asked. Daryl tossed the bags into the tent as Rick and the group started towards them.

" We gonna talk with Rick, figure shit out then we gonna head out." He said, facing her again. She looked like she was trying not to cry. Daryl frowned. Merle had his hooks in deep into her. She was terrified to go back to him. " Ain't got to worry. Merle ain't gonna hurt you again."

" Daryl..." She whispered.

" I found the clinic." Rick said, pulling Daryl's eyes over her head to meet the cop's. " We staked it out. We saw Merle but not the little girl."

" Daryl, please." Ava said with her voice shaking. Daryl took her arm and turned her as he started towards Rick.

" How many men are there?" He asked Rick while they walked.

" Looks to be about four." Rick answered. He was on the other side of Ava. The group was either behind the three or at Rick's side.

" Got weapons?" Daryl asked.

" Stop this, please." Ava said.

" Each man has a gun but we don't know what's inside the clinic." Rick said.

" How many guns you seen them with?" Daryl asked as they reached the campfire.

" It doesn't matter because we don't have to go." Ava said, facing Daryl who frowned.

" Gotta get Angel." He said.

" Angel is fine where she is." Ava said.

" She ain't fine." Daryl snapped, shocked that this woman he had come to know, who he knew loved her sister, was so willingly to leave her behind. The group came around to Daryl's back to stare at her.

" If she's with Merle and those men then we have to get her out of there." Carol said gently. Ave blinked and that started a tear to fall down her face.

" She's fine and we don't have to go back." She said as she stared hard at Daryl.

" Where is she?" Rick asked. Daryl shifted his weight to his right leg and planted his hands on his hips.

" Locked up in a room." Ava said without breaking eye contact with Daryl.

" She can't stay locked up in a room. How is she eating?" Lori asked. Ava rubbed her lips together and sniffed as she shook her head.

" She doesn't need to eat anymore." She said softly. Slowly Daryl's hands started to slip from their spot.

" What kind of girl doesn't need to eat?" Beth asked.

" Please, Daryl, can we talk alone?" Ava asked.

" She dead?" Daryl snapped. Ava pressed her lips together as her eyes burned with tears.

" She got bit." She whispered.

" When?" Glenn asked.

" Before Merle found me." She admitted. Daryl stood up straight as his face darken. She had been lying to him. The whole time Daryl had been open and honest with her, she had been lying to him. He had opened up to her, sharing things about his life that he had never shared before and she had lied to him. " I tried everything to save her. I cleaned the wound, I gave her antibiotics but nothing would work." Her voice broke as a sob escaped her.

" Medicines don't work." Lori muttered. She knew taking the girl on and listening to her story was a mistake.

" Nothing I did helped her. She had a horrible fever. She cried from the pain but I coudn't do anything for her." Ava said as she started to cry harder. " She trembled, she screamed, and then she died, in my arms. In my arms!"

" What did you do?" Rick asked gently. Carol covered her mouth and closed her eyes as she started to cry.

" I held her for a long time. I just couldn't believe she had really died. After a while I carried her to one of the patients rooms and laid her on the bed. I covered her up and was going to leave. I made it all the way to the door when she made a noise and sat up. I thought I had been wrong, that she hadn't died. But I knew she did. She had no pulse and she wasn't breathing when I laid her down. And her eyes, they were cloudy as she got out of the bed. I called out to her but there was nothing. I hit the lock on the door and slammed it shut. She banged on it for hours. She growled and hit it." Ava said as she cried. " Merle found me a few days later."

_* Please don't hate Ava or me!*_


	19. Chapter 19

_* Please Review!*_

Daryl spun on his heel and started to march away while the group rolled over Ava's confession. Rick was still asking her questions even though she wasn't talking. She walked through the group, ignoring them and calling out to Daryl. She was begging him to stop and talk to her but he was storming through the camp. He didn't stop until he reached his tent and then he whipped around so fast, it startled her.

" What the hell is wrong with you!" He yelled.

" I wanted to tell you!" She said.

" Well you didn't!" He yelled in her face. Everyone was watching them but no one was moving. They wanted the couple to have some space.

" I didn't know how!" Ava defended.

" How about you open your mouth and say it! You sure didn't have a hard time openin your mouth before!" Daryl's outburst let the group know just how much the relationship between the hunter and the young woman had changed.

" That's not fair!" Ava said.

" Tough shit! Life's tough! Is anything you said to me true? Your parents dead? You raised her? Huh!" He yelled, making her start to cry again.

" Everything else was true! I never actually lied to you about Angel! I never said she was alive!" Ava said.

" You ain't said she dead either!" Daryl as he stepped even closer to her. Her betrayal was made harder because he had finally opened up to someone. He had told her things he hadn't told anyone. He had let her in to him, trusted her. He had went against his natural instinct to shut everyone out and pulled her into him. " Bet he didn't even beat or cut you! Bet you did that shit to yourself!" That was a lie and he knew it, he didn't really believe what he saying.

" How could you say that!" Ava finally yelled. " You know he did! You saw what he did to me! You saw everything!"

" I ain't seen shit!" Daryl yelled as he turned away. Ava reached out and took a hold of his arm but Daryl yanked away hard from her. " Leave me be!" He yelled so loud that Ava took a few steps back. " Get the fuck out of here! Go back to Merle! Go be Merle's whore cuz you're done bein mine!"

" Daryl!" Carol said as she came forward to offer Ava support.

" Daryl, don't. You don't mean that." Ava said softly.

" I ain't comin with you! Get the fuck out of here!" Daryl said without looking away from her. " I'm goin huntin, when I get back that bitch better be gone!" He turned on his words and stormed into the woods. Ava turned around and met Carol's eyes then Rick's.

" I'm sorry." She whispered. " I'm so sorry."

" Why do you keep going back to Merle if your sister is a walker?" Rick asked as he walked towards her.

" You think I haven't tried to leave him!" Ava started to yell. " I have! But he always finds me! He finds me, drags me back and beats me! And I couldn't leave Angel! I just couldn't!"

" He doesn't have to hit you anymore." Carol said softly. " You can stay here."

" No, I can't. You heard Daryl, I have to leave." Ava said.

" No, you don't." Rick said.

" Yes I do. He doesn't want me here. I won't tell Merle where you are, I promise." Ava said as she looked at the different faces staring at her. " I won't tell." She repeated as she started walking backwards.

" Rick, don't let her leave!" Carol said.

" Ava, stop!" Rick said, picking up his pace.

" If you come with me, it will only make things worst. Please, Rick, for the safety of the group, don't follow me." Ava said. " Please." She said before she turnd and ran off

" You can't just let her go!" Carol said when she faced Rick.

" What do you want him to do?" Lori snapped. " You heard what she said. For our safety we can't go after her."

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Ava ran as fast as she could for as far as she could before she collapsed to the ground and started to cry. Her hands dug into the grass and the dirt as she screamed. She had been stupid and she knew it. She had thought she could stay with the group, convince they to leave the area and never have to see Merle again. She had thought if she left with the group that he wouldn't be able to track her like he had the other times but that had blown up in her face. She should have been upfront and honest with the group the second Daryl found her but thought they would have turned her away.

After a few minutes of tears Ava pulled herself together and stood up. She started walking with her heart heavy. Internally she was prepping herself for Merle. She'd be true to her word. She won't tell Merle about the group. She had known about them for a while and hadn't told him, she wasn't going to start now.

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Daryl took aim and took his shot a second later. A squirrel fell back and out of the tree it had been sitting at. It tumbled down to the ground but the kill did little to improve the hunter's mood. Fuck her. Wait, he already had. He fucked her more times than he could count, actually. He fucked her, actually talked to her and she had been lying the whole time. He kissed her, touched her, let her touch him and it had all been a lie.

TWDTWDTWD

Ava trudged up the pathway that led to the clinic. She sighed, took a deep breath, and studied herself. Merle was going to pull out all the stops and she knew it. He would use her dead sister's body against her like he always did, but what he didn't know was that now she understood that there was nothing in Angel that was her. It was just a souless body. Her sister was gone. She was going to take her beating, wait until he passed out then leave for good. She was going to run to the river, jump in and it carry her away. He wouldn't be able to track her tracks if she was in the water.

TWDTWDTWD

" You have to go after her." Carol said as soon as Daryl came back to camp.

" Ain't got to do shit." Daryl muttered.

" You know what Merle will do to her." Carol said. She had to hurry to keep pace with Daryl. He was was moving towards the camp fire to ready the animals he had killed. " You know how he will hurt her."

" Ain't none of my business."

" Yes it is!" When Daryl didn't stop, Carol grabbed his arm, knowing it would freeze him. And it did. "You know how he will hurt her. You know how he will beat her and cut her. Can you live with that?" Daryl narrowed his eyes down at her as his breath came out harsh and loud. " Something happen between the two of you when you were alone and now, you care about her or you wouldn't have gotten so mad at her."

" So what? You think you're some kind of mind reader now?" Daryl snapped. Carol shook her head and raised up her chin.

" No. i just know you." She said. Daryl scoffed at her.

" You don't know shit bout me." He snapped.

" I know what type of man you are. I know you will protect us with your life. I know that if you didn't care about her at all, you would have left her there in town but you didn't. You saved her and took care of her in that house. Now, because you found out something you didn't like about her, you're just going to throw her to the wolves? Can you just throw her at Merle's mercy?" Carol asked. Daryl's jaw started to work back and forth slowly as they stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. " If you can sleep at night, knowing what she is going through, than so be it." Without another word, Carol walked away from him, leaving Daryl to stare at the ground. He was still breathing hard and working his jaw.

TWDTWDTWD

" You ready to tell me where my brother is?" Merle asked. It was the same question he asked her every time she came back. He didn't know she knew where the group was but she knew he had an idea.

" Fuck you." She said, making Merle smile and nod.

" I've missed you, Sweet thing. Now come here and give your daddy some sugar." He said.

" I met him, you know." She said, making Merle take pause. " Your brother. I met him. I have spent time with him and you know what I learned?" She was baiting Merle and she knew she shouldn't but she didn't care. She had nothing left. He might beat her to death for her next comment but she didn't care. She just didn't care anymore.

" That he's a pussy." Merle said.

" No. I learned that his dick works." Merle stood up straight and glared at her as his men, standing around them, smirked. " Unlike you, he can get his dick up and fuck a girl like she needs to be fucked."

" You stupid, little bitch." Merle muttered.

" Yeah, he has no problem getting a hard on. Remind me, please Merle, can you do that? Can your dick get hard?" She asked.

" You are gonna regret that." He said through gritted teeth.


	20. Chapter 20

_* Please Review!*_

Daryl and T-Dog followed behind Rick and Glenn as they made their way towards the clinic. As they neared it, Rick and Glenn crouched low to the ground, making Daryl and T-Dog do the same. Rick pointed straight ahead as he came to a stop. Daryl glanced through the trees and brushes to see the building was lay ahead of them. They looked at the roof and saw nothing. They looked around the grounds and there was nothing.

" Where is everyone?" Glenn wondered in a whisper.

" Okay, everyone, keep your eyes open and be quiet. Maybe we can catch them off guard." Rick whispered.

As a unit, the four men moved. Glenn and Daryl switched places so he was up front with Rick. They stayed low to the ground, moving quietly and quickly. They looked around and listened but there was still nothing but the insects to greet them. Daryl was nervous. He didn't know what they were walking into, what they would find. What if he was too late and Merle had beat her to death? No, she wouldn't let that happen, he decided. She was too strong, damn near the strongest woman he had ever met.

Rick looked through the clinic windows but didn't see anything so they carefully crept in. They walked down the hallway and were quickly greeted by the sounds of cheers. Daryl frowned as they rounded the corner. Laying on the floor, against a closed door, was Ava. Merle was in standing in front of her and his men were around them, cheering and yelling for him to,

" Kick her again!"

" Teach her a lesson!"

" Show that bitch who's boss!"

" Shut that whore up!" Whore. The word made Daryl want to crinch. He had called her that.

" You wanna say that shit again?!" Merle yelled before he kicked her square in the stomach. Ava's eyes went shut as she made a sickening sound and curled up into herself.

" Merle!" Daryl yelled. Merle's four men whipped around, with only two having guns. Daryl's boys had two guns each and they were up and aimed. Daryl had his cross bow ready to go, ready to launch an arrow into the air. Merle turned around with a grin and Daryl saw that he had been right. Ava had fought back. One side of Merle's lip was split. His left eyebrow was starting swell.

" Well look who it is." Merle's raspy voice said. " Now don't bet gettin excited, Sweetheart. Ain't like Daryl's comin to rescue you. Or maybe he is. You comin to save your little whore or you just miss your big brother?" Ava groaned and rolled from her side to her knees. She put one arm across her stomach and used her other hand to brace herself on the floor. She was coughing as she whined. Through her sweat soaked hair, she looked up at Daryl.

" No!" She whined, pulling his eyes to her face. " Go away!" Merle smirked and faced her. He leaned down, grabbed her by one of her arms and pulled her up. The pain of the jerk made Ava gag and Daryl tense up.

" What's the matter, Sweetheart? Don't want your lil boyfriend to see you gettin your ass kicked?" Merle said as he yanked her to him.

" Let her go, Merle." Rick said. " The girl didn't do anything to you."

" She doesn't listen. I gave her an order and she didn't listen." Merle's hand moved from Ava's arm to the hair at the back of her head. He yanked it hard, making her cry out and grab at his wrist.

" Let her go." Daryl said. Merle narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

" Nah, I think I'll keep her." Merle said. " Glad to see you, brother. Been a long time. See what I got?" He raised up his handless arm. " You like it? Came custody of your friends."

" They didn't make you cut it off. Should have waited." Daryl said as he looked from his brother to Ava to his brother again. " I came back for you."

" Yeah right. You expect me to believe that shit? You came for me than just like you came for me now, huh? Don't try it. I know you came for the girl. I know you were fuckin her, she told me." Merle sneered out. He shook his head and looked at Ava. " Know what this pretty, lil thing said about you?" He looked back at Daryl. " That your dick is a sad, little thing and I know she's right. 'Member when I walked in on you jerkin that pathetic excuse of a cock?"

" You lying piece of shit!" Ava said loudly as she kicked Merle's shin. He grunted and yanked her hair again, making her cry out when her head was wrenched to the side.

" Shut your whore mouth!" Merle snapped in her face.

" You're just mad that he can get his dick hard and yours is just useless!" She hissed.

" Ava, shut the hell up!" Daryl snapped. He needed her to stop pissing Merle off before he hurt her more than she already was. Her right cheek was bruised, her mouth was bleeding and a look of pain was erected across her face.

" Useless!" Merle yelled. " I'll show you how useless I am!" He let go of her hair and backhanded her so hard, Ava tumbled to the floor. T-Dog closed his eyes, Glenn looked away and Daryl frowned as he held his breath. She was laying on her side and wasn't moving for a few tense seconds.

' Move, Ava.' Daryl said silently. As if she heard his frantic plead, she groaned and rolled to her back.

" Is that all you got?" She coughed. Merle straddled her and raised his hand to hit her again, making Daryl call out.

" Merle, don't!" Merle looked behind him and met Daryl's eyes.

" You sweet on this thing?" Merle asked.

Ava propped herself up on her elbows and swiftly kicked Merle in the balls. As he grabbed himself and started to drop, she pushed him away and almost jumped up. She jumped up as best she could, sprinted through his men and ran right to Daryl and Rick. Two of the men had tried to grab her but she had managed to dodge their hands. Daryl grabbed her and almost threw her behind him. He held his crossbow up with one hand and his other was gripping at Ava's side as she took a hold of his shirt.

" Are you okay?" Rick asked without looking at her.

" I'm fine." She said. Daryl felt her take more of his flannel in her hands as she moved into his back. Merle held himself and started to stand.

" Fuckin bitch." He hissed. " Get over here."

" She ain't comin to you no more." Daryl said. " What do you want with me?"

" You're my brother. Why do I need sumthin from you?" Merle asked. " Let's make a deal, you send the cop, the boy, and that asshole away and I will give you the girl for the night."

" My boys ain't gonna anywhere." Daryl said.

" Your boys?" Merle asked. " Your boys!" He yelled the second time. " Get them the fuck out of my sight and put my brother and the bitch in a room. I need to get cleaned up."

" We aren't leaving you here." Rick said softly so only Daryl and Ava heard.

" Just wait outside for us." Daryl said, staring at Merle as he mumbled to himself and walked away.

" You sure?" Rick asked.

" Yeah." Daryl said.

" Come on, Man, we have more firepower than they do." T-Dog said as the men started to move towards the group like they weren't scared of guns.

" You heard the boss, let's go." One man with the gun said. Daryl felt Ava's forehead come to rest against his back.

" Go." Daryl said.

Slowly his boys and Merle's started pass Daryl and Ava. She was breathing hard and whimpering softly. She was in a lot of pain and was quickly losing the battle to hide it. Daryl let his right arm drop when they were alone. Ava pulled away when she felt him starting to turn. She looked up at him, seeing his eyes travel over her face, taking in her injuries. Her cheek hurt, her mouth hurt, her knuckles hurt from punching Merle and her stomach was killing her.

" You didn't have to come." She said.

" Well I did and it don't mean shit's fine between us." Daryl snapped. Ava swallowed with some effort and rolled her eyes.

" Excuse me if I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit right now." She said as she started pass him.

" Where the hell you goin?" Daryl said as he turned to follow her.

" To take care of myself." She muttered as she shuffled along.

She was slightly hunched over with her left arm around her stomach. She walked into an open room and right over to a counter. Her right hand came up and took a hold of the counter as she closed her eyes. She tilted her head to the side as she frowned. Daryl walked into the room and closed the door. He faced her again, unsure of what he should do or even say to her. He cleared his throat as he sported his usual frown.

" Where you hurt?" He asked with his voice rough. Ava shook her head.

" I'm fine." She said, opening her eyes again. She pulled open a drawer and started looking through it.

" You ain't fine." He snapped as he came forward.

" I can take care of myself." She muttered, pulling out some pills and setting them on the counter. Daryl snatched up one of the paper cups that were hanging out of the cup holder on the wall and brought it to the sink. He flicked it on as she opened the pill package. " I just need a shower and the Motrin, than I will be fine." He set the cup down than pushed it over to her. He watched as she popped the pills into her mouth, grabbed the cup and downed the water.

" Your mouth is bleedin." It was the only thing Daryl could think to say. He felt awkward and strange.

" Yeah, no shit. It happens when you get punched." She commented, making his frown deepen.

Gone was the soft, fun girl he had seen when they were alone. Gone was the gentle girl who touched him and shared stories with him while she lay naked. Back was the Ava he had first met. She was hard and withdrawn again. To his surprise, he realized he wanted the girl from the house back. His hands went into fists when the thought hit him. He didn't want her withdrawing from him and that pissed him off. He didn't care if she was like that with everyone else, actually he preferred it, but he didn't want her like that with him.

" Your cheek's swellin up." Daryl said. Ava crushed the paper cup in her hand and glared up at him.

" Anything else you want to point out?" She asked. " My hand is bleeding too. I'm pretty sure I have new bruises on my ribs and stomach. I bit the inside of my cheek, might have bit my tongue too, and my head is killing me. You want to point all that out too?"

" You ain't got to be a bitch!" Daryl spit out. " I didn't come here to listen to your mouth!"

" Why did you come here?" Ava asked. The question seemed to take him back for a second. His eyes squinted more, his frowned deepen more than she thought possible. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it then grunted and shook his head.

" Carol wanted me to get you." He said. The answer caused Ava to have a physical reaction that surprised him. Her face fell, her shoulders slumped forward and she closed her eyes a second before a small whine escaped her. She swallowed then looked back at him.

" Then I don't want you here." She said before she started pass him. Daryl stayed rooted to his spot. He stared into the space she had been standing, listening as the door to the room opened than closed. Carol wasn't only part of the reason he was there but he couldn't tell her that.


	21. Chapter 21

_* Please Review!*_

Ava grabbed a set of clean clothes, towels, and her soaps from the room she usually slept in. She made her way to the bathroom then locked herself inside. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes. Her entire body hurt but she refused to give into the pain. With a loud sigh, she pushed away from the door and walked over to the bathroom counter. She set her stuff down then faced the shower.

As she undressed, she refused to look at her body. She didn't want to see the new marks Merle had left on her. At least he hadn't used a knife that time. He had never actually stabbed her before, just swiped the knife across her skin but it had still hurt her. She'd take his fists over a knife any day.

It wasn't until Ava was under the warm water that she allowed the hot tears to flow down her cheeks and the sobs to overtake her body.

As Daryl walked out of the exam room, he saw her duck into another room. Slowly he followed after her but by the time he reached the door, she had shut and locked it. He knew because he had tried the handle. He frowned and leaned in to see if he could hear what she was doing. A few minutes went by before he heard some water start and figured she was in the shower. He was going to wait right by that door until she done then they were going to talk.

But after a while, Daryl got bored and decided to have a look around the clinic. He wanted to check out all the exits and figure out a plan to get them out of there without running into Merle. Nothing good would come from meeting up with his big brother. Why Daryl had wanted to find him at first, he had now formed a kinship with the group. Rick had become the brother Merle never had been. Daryl was figuring himself out and what type of man he was and he had people who trusted him for the first time, ever. He wasn't ready to give that all up and he knew he'd have too if he stayed with Merle. Merle would never view Daryl as an equal.

Daryl came to a closed door so he grabbed the handle and tried to turned it, only to find that it was locked. There was a little window in the door so he peered in. Sitting on the floor was a little girl with chucks of her hair missing. Daryl exhaled hard. This was Angel, she had to be. She was only giving Daryl her profile but she looked like a shrunken Ava, a dead, shrunken Ava.

" You found her." Ava said softly, off to Daryl's right. He glanced at her then back at the walker, Angel. "Is she just sitting?" Ava asked as she came to the door. Angel must have heard the voice because her head turned and she caught Daryl looking at her. She started to struggle to stand, using her hands to push herself up.

" She's gettin up." He said softly. She, not it. He never called walkers, she or he. They were always It but he couldn't bring himself to say that in front of Ava.

" Yeah, she does that when she hears voices." Ava said. " I used to pull a chair up and watch her roam around the room but I had to stop."

" Why?" Daryl asked as he continued to watch. Angel had managed to get up. She was snarling and reaching her arms out towards him as she stumbled towards the door.

" She started to lose her hair...and than her skin." She said it as Daryl noticed Angel's fingers. They were worn to the bone. " I thought she reacted only to my voice because she remembered me but after your brother got here with the guys he found, I saw that Angel did the same thing with them." She said.

" She ain't ever got out?" Daryl asked.

" I don't think she can work the door knob. It's just a push lock. If she turned it hard enough, it would pop." Ava asked as Angel finally reached the door. Her small hands started to beat against it.

" She why you kept comin back?" Daryl asked.

" At first. I thought there might be something left of her in there and Merle played into that. He would tell me he would hurt her, that she could still feel pain so I can back, twice. When she started to lose the hair and skin, I knew he was wrong. The other times I tried to leave or not come back, he found me." She answered. He knew the rest of that story.

" Merle's a good tracker." Daryl muttered. " How'd she get bit?"

" We came across a couple of those things in the woods. At first, they didn't notice us. I told her to be quiet, that I was going to try and take a few out. She was against a tree and I thought she was hidden. I moved away from her to shoot and she got scared. She called out to me and I guess one was on the other side of the tree that I didn't see. It bit her before I had a chance to take it down." Ava explained.

" Didn't you know nothin about them?" Daryl asked as he watched the little girl beat against the door.

" No. I had seen people get attacked by them but we had never stuck around to see the aftermath. I grabbed her and started running through the woods. When I found the clinic, I thought I was home free but nothing I did worked." Ava said. " She just got sicker and sicker until she died." Daryl frowned and stepped away from the door to face her.

" There a back door to this place? Sum where we can sneak out?" He asked.

" I don't know but I'm not going with you." Ava said, making him frown harder.

" Why the hell not?" He snapped.

" I learned I'll be better off alone. I know Carol wanted you to bring me back to her but no, thanks." She said. Daryl narrowed his eyes. It had never crossed his mind that she wouldn't come with him once he got here. " Lori didn't agree with your group taking me on. Carol looks at me like she's waiting for me to crack and hug her, which I won't do because I'm not a hugger and the others look scared of me. You..." Ava took a deep breath but didn't finished her sentience.

" Me what?" He asked.

" You turned and left the second you got mad at me. So no, I can't come with you." He couldn't deny her words. She was right. He had done just that. He had let his temper get the best of him, again. But what did she mean she wasn't a hugger? She had hugged him. He hadn't hugged her back but that hadn't stopped her. " Merle said that when I brought you to him, I could leave. Will he let me?"

" Well I would have, Sweetheart." Merle's voice made her jump and turned around quickly. She held up her hands in defense and started backing up. She hit Daryl's chest a few steps later. His hands came to her hips. " But you didn't bring him here. He came on his own."

" But he's here." Ava said, making Daryl squeeze her.

" Don't matter. I told you how he had to come, with you. You came back alone and refused to tell me where he was." Merle said.

" You lying piece of limp shit!" Ava spit out.

" Ava." Daryl snapped. He needed her to not bait his brother. He didn't want to fight Merle but he would if the man touched her. Again.

" For someone who doesn't want my dick, you sure talk bout it lot." Merle spit back. " And there ain't nothin wrong wtih it. You just ain't good enough me but I guess you're good enough for him so for tonight, you will be his slut. I 'pect you to do whatever he wants, you hear me now?"

" She ain't got to do whatever she don't want too." Daryl snapped.

" Don't be a pussy, Darlina! 'Member what I always said, if she ain't fightin then the sex ain't worth it." With a raspy laugh, Merle walked away. Under his hands, Daryl felt Ava relax. She almost sagged back into his chest before she seemed to remember he was there. Ava pulled away from Daryl and shook her head.

" I'm sorry." She said quickly.

" Come on, we gonna find a way out of here and you're comin." He didn't give her an option as his hand wrapped around her arm a second before he started tugging her away from Angel, with neither one noticing the door knob turning.

TWDTWDTWD

" Ain't one single back door here." Daryl muttered as they roamed around the big building. " How the hell can that be?"

" Daryl!" Merle yelled out. " Get your ass out here!" Daryl and Ava rounded a corner to see Merle standing in one of the hallways with one of his men. Merle and the man each had a gun up and aimed at them. " You two gonna sleep in here. Jeff's gonna watch and make sure you don't sneak out so get in there. We gonna talk in the mornin." When they didn't more, Merle frowned. " Get in there or I will shot her in the arm. She'll live but it'll hurt like a bitch." And he would, Daryl knew it. He took a hold of Ava's arm again and lead her into the room. Merle slammed the door up as soon as they walked into the old patient room.

TWDTWDTWD

Ava had made herself a bed on the floor. against a far wall while Daryl sat by the door. Both were trying hard to not look at the other, and failing. She was laying on her back with a sheet under her and another one over her. Her hands were on her stomach and her head was on a pillow. Daryl's knees were bent with his forearms resting on them and his hands clasped together. Every so often, she'd turn her head and look at him. When he would catch her, she'd look away and it would be his turn to stare at her. That went on for hours.

" You should sleep. Jeff won't leave. He does everything Merle says. He will sit out there all night until Merle comes and gets us." Ava said.

Her voice traveled through the darkness. He put his head against the wall and titled it up to stare at the ceiling. He wasn't where he wanted to be. He wanted to be across the room where she was but he couldn't move towards her. Daryl had liked her sleeping next to him. She cuddled up to him and cuddling wasn't a thing Daryl had ever done, or thought he had wanted, but he did. He wanted her warm, softness against him. He shook his head and pushed himself up to clear his head of his thoughts. He moved over to the door and looked out the window.

" He's gone." Daryl muttered. Ava frowned and sat up. She pushed the blanket off her and stood up.

" What?" She asked in surprise.

" That man's gone. Ain't no one out there." He moved back to the wall where his cross bow was resting. He snatched it up and slipped an arrow into place. " Stay close. You ain't got your bow and arrow." Daryl commented. He pushed opened the door and looked out to the right while Ava looked behind the door and to the left.

" Daryl." She whispered as she patted him. " Look, there's blood on the floor." He turned and looked to where she was pointing. He frowned and lowed his cross bow. He took the arrows off the cross bow's holder and handed them to her.

" You hand them to me as I need them but if you need to use one as a weapon, do it. We gonna move towards the front, quickly and quietly. Girl must have got out." Daryl whispered.

" Walker." Ava said, making him look at her. She was staring at the blood. " She's not a girl, she's not my sister, not anymore. She's just a walker." She reached behind her and took some of his shirt in her small hand. " Let's go."


	22. Chapter 22

_* Please Review! So the Daryl in this story is based off an interview Reedus gave. He said Daryl was an emotional virgin. He said Daryl wanted to touch and be touched but didn't know how to get it or how to do it. __**Emberka-2012:**__ What? I didn't really understand your review. *_

Ava walked sideways with her left hand holding onto the back of Daryl's shirt. She was watching their back while he watched the front. They moved quietly down the hallway, noticing the sprays of blood in different spots. They stayed in the center of the hallway until they heard shuffling and groaning coming down a intersecting hallway. Daryl pushed them back against the wall on the left side. Both waited and watched. A few seconds went by before Jeff came shuffling pass their part of the hallway. Half his neck was missing. Daryl took aim and fired an arrow, bring the walker down quickly. Ava handed over an arrow from the group in her hand and kept watch as he reloaded.

" Let's go." He muttered. And the walking started again.

They came across another of Merle's men who was a walker and he was quickly dispatched as well. Slowly and quietly they came to the hallway that would lead to the exit. They stepped into the hallway and saw Angel was beating against the front door. She may be accidentally turned the knob in the other room, but she couldn't figure out how to open the other door. Daryl raised his arms but Ava stopped him by grabbing his right elbow. He looked at her slowly but she was staring at her dead sister who was groaning and almost growling.

" Don't, please." Ava whispered. " I'll do it." Daryl couldn't take his eyes off her as he handed over his cross bow. She raised it up, then lowered it down. She was swallowing fast and hard, struggling to gain control of herself. She took a deep breath then raised the bow back up. " Angel." The walker's arms slipped from the door as she started to turn around. There was fresh blood all down the front of her shirt and jeans. It was dripping from her chin mouth. " Oh Angel, I'm sorry." Ava whispered as the walker started towards them.

Ava pulled the trigger right away. Angel's head rocked back with the force of the arrow hitting her. She fell back, hitting the floor hard. Daryl didn't move. Ava didn't move. He stared at her face. She closed her eyes and let a few tears slip out. He knew they needed to move, needed to get out of the clinic, but she needed just a few minutes. She swallowed hard, opened her eyes then handed Daryl his cross bow back without looking at him. She wiped her cheeks and nodded.

" Let's go." She said with her voice strong. And damn if that didn't impress him. With steady and sure steps, Ava started towards the door with Daryl following after her. If she looked down at her dead, little sister, he didn't see it as she passed the body.

Ava pushed open the door, grateful for the fresh air. She inhale deeply, needing to clear out the smell of the dead from her senses. Sitting on the ground just ahead of them, and leaning against a truck, was Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog. All three stood up when they noticed Daryl and Ava making their way towards them. Rick left the other two to greet them.

" What's happening?" He asked.

" There was a walker attack inside. Two of Merle's men were killed. Daryl took them down. We don't know what happen to the other two or Merle but I think we should leave." Ava said, very matter of factly. Rick looked towards the clinic.

" A walker?" He asked.

" I'm ready to go." Ava said shortly before she walked pass him.

" What really happen?" Rick asked quietly.

" It was the little girl. She got out." Daryl explained.

" Where's Merle?" Rick asked.

" Don't know. Girl's right, we need to head back to the group." Daryl said.

" Daryl!" Called a raspy voice. Daryl turned and looked up to the roof of the clinic. Merle was standing on the edge. " I'm trapped! Two of sum a bitches got themselves killed now they're at the door! I got it locked up! Get your ass up here and kill them for me!"

" What do you want to do?" Rick asked. " This is your call." Daryl stared up at his older brother, the man that had helped abuse him. The man who had put Daryl down for years. The man Daryl had loved no matter what. The man Daryl had morned and thought was dead already.

" What the hell you doin, Boy! I said get your lazy, good for nothin ass up here and handle your business!" Merle yelled with a frown. Daryl looked over to Ava where she stood by the edge of the woods, staring hard at Daryl. He sighed and shook his head.

" Let's go." He muttered to Rick.

With Merle cursing him out, screaming about Daryl's betrayal, the group made their way over to Ava. Merle promised to get even. He screamed that their dad should have drowned Daryl in the river at birth. He promised to make Daryl pay for choosing them over his own kin, he swore Daryl would regret his actions. He yelled that he didn't want Daryl anyway, didn't need his stupid ass. With no one talking, they disappeared into the woods.

A million things were going through Daryl's mind. He replayed the beating Ava had taken. He relived seeing the wild but brave look on her face as she taunted Merle despited the pain she was in. He watched how she walked a few paces ahead of him with his arrows clutched in her hand. She was still slightly hunched over so he knew she was experiencing the pain Merle had given her. He watched every move she made but she never looked back at him.

" Who took care of the little girl?" Rick whispered to Daryl. The hunter motioned towards Ava, making the ex-cop nod. " By choice?"

" Yeah." Daryl muttered.

" You think she gonna be okay with that?" Rick asked.

" She ain't got a choice. She knows that." Daryl returned. " She did what she had to do." And he was damn impressed with that. He wasn't sure there was anyone else in the group that could have done that. Carol had watched her little girl be taken down then ran. Ava walked on, understanding that her sister was long gone.

" We need to move. While you two were gone and we were searching for the clinic, we found a prison. It's fenced off and could be safe." Rick said.

" Think it's clear?" Daryl asked.

" Don't know but I think it's worth checking out." Rick commented.

" Told the group?" Daryl asked with his eyes still trained on Ava.

" No. Only Glenn and you know."

The rest of the walk back to camp was quiet.

TWDTWDTWD

Has they walked into camp, Lori and Carol stood up from their spots by the campfire. Carol was staring at Ava but she refused to meet any one's eyes. As they walked, Daryl noticed she was headed right for Carol's tent so he pushed himself forward and reached out. His hand went to her shoulder and he guided her towards his space. She moved as if on autopilot. She turned when he squeezed her, heading right for his tent. The last thing she needed was to be with Carol. The woman would just ask questions about Angel or cry. Ava did not need that. She needed to be with someone who would understand the need for silence, and that was Daryl.

When they reached his tent, he stepped forward and quickly undid the zipper before guiding her inside. He only had one pillow and one sleeping bag but he knew Carol had enough stuff for Ava. He would just drop her off then go and get her some things. The book bag she had used when she came to the group was still in the other woman's tent. Daryl would grab that too.

" Go to sleep." Daryl said when he stepped inside. " Been a long day, it's late. We got shit to do tomorrow, pullin up and headed out. Need a good night's sleep. I'm gonna go and get that other blanket and pillow from Carol." Without a word, Ava sat down on his sleeping bag and he had a flashback to the house when she told him she couldn't feel anymore. Daryl stared down at her. He frowned, feeling unsure of what to say.

" You can stop staring at me now. I'm not going to flip out." Ava said without looking up at him.

" Who the hell said I was starin?" Daryl asked. To his surprise, a small smile came to her lips. She looked up at him.

" I could feel it, Daryl. You have the kind of stare a person can feel." She said.

" What the hell does that mean?" He snapped.

" Nothing. Just go and get what you need from Carol. I'll be here when you get back." She said, looking away.

Daryl stepped out and wasn't surprised to see Carol standing there. He frowned again and turned around to zip the tent close. He didn't really want to deal with her but knew he had no choice. With a sigh, he turned back around to face the woman who looked worried about everything. He narrowed his eyes down and started pass her.

" Daryl?" She asked.

" Not now." He muttered while he walked towards her tent.

" You sure she should stay with you?"

" Why the hell not?" He snapped.

" Well, I just think, right now, she might need someone to talk too and you're not the easiest person to talk too." Carol tried to say gently.

" She'll be fine." Daryl said with out slowing down. When he reached Carol's tent, he unzipped the door without asking and stepped in with Carol right behind him.

" I think I know what she's going through." Carol said. Daryl grabbed Ava's backpack then snatched up a pillow while he tried to ignore Carol. " I know what it's like to see someone you love turned into one of those things."

" Think you know her better than me?" Daryl asked as he grabbed some of the blankets and tossed them over his shoulder. He turned and faced Carol, feeling tired, stressed, and angry over the events of the night. " Pretty sure it was me stuck up in that house with her for a week, not you. Don't remember seeing you there." He snapped. " Girl's gonna fine. I know what she needs." Without another word to her, he walked out of the tent and headed back towards his.

When Daryl moved back into his tent, he saw that Ava had opened his sleeping bag and spread it out. She was laying on the right side of it, like she had when they slept in the bed together. She was using his pillow, laying on her right side with her eyes shut. Daryl zipped the tent closed then set her bag down. He thought she was sleeping because she was breathing slow.

Quietly he moved to the free side of his sleeping bag and dropped the pillow first then the blankets. He plopped down and started undoing his laces. He pulled off his left boot then the right one. He spread the blankets out so they covered both of them then settled down into the makeshift bed so he was on his left side. He stuffed his arms under the pillow and stared at the tent walls.

Memories of their private time started flowing over him. His body came alive at once. His dick was tight in his pants. He wanted her again. It felt too good inside her to not want it again. He frowned in the darkness, willingly his cock to soften but it would not listen. He shifted his hips and tried to focus on something else, anything else, but nothing would come to his mind.

" Daryl?" Ava whispered as she turned over. He rolled over, bending his right leg to try and hide his erection from her view. She was on her left side while he was on his back. " Thank you for not shooting her. Thank you for letting me do it. I should have do it sooner but I couldn't." She said. Daryl didn't say anything to her. He didn't know what to say so he kept his mouth shut. " So thanks for not shooting her as soon as we saw her." She sighed and blinked slowly. " And thanks for listening to Carol and coming to get me."

Without another word, Ava moved in closer to him. She let her left hand come to his shoulder while she put her forehead against his arm. She slipped her right hand into his and squeezed him. Daryl turned his head so he could stare at the ceiling of the tent, wondering what he should do. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to pull her into him but just wasn't sure how too so he didn't move. He stayed right where he was, letting her curl around his arm. Her thumb stroked his hand for a while before it started to slow down then stop completely. She sighed and he knew she was finally sleeping.

It hadn't only been Carol's idea. Inside, he had known he had wanted to go after her, he just hadn't wanted to admit it. To anyone. He let them all think Carol and Rick pushed him into going but the truth was, he would have waited until they all went to bed then snuck out by himself. She was his woman now, his to protect, his to watch out for, he just wasn't going to tell anyone that. He wasn't going to tell her either. He's just watch her from the sidelines. He'd take the touches she'd give him, if she gave him any after that night. He'd take them and enjoy them in silence. Just maybe he could figure out a way to touch her without feeling or looking weak. According to Merle, men that needed to touch their women all the time were weak-ass pussies. It had made sense to Daryl when Merle said it but now...well now he really wanted to touch her.

While she slept against his side, Daryl squeezed the hand that held his. She rubbed her face against him and sighed again.

_* How did you feel about how Daryl left Merle? What did you think about what Daryl was thinking at the end?*_


	23. Chapter 23

_* Please review!*_

He was warm. He was comfortable, which meant only one thing. Ava was cuddled up into Daryl's back. That was the only time he was that warm and comfortable. Well, either that way or when he was against her back. But as soon as Daryl started to completely wake up, the warmth left his back. He jumped wide awake and whipped around to see Ava sitting with her back to him.

" What the hell are you doin?" He snapped. She glanced over her shoulder at him then went back to tying her shoe laces.

" Getting ready to go pee." She said. Daryl ran one hand over his face and cleared his throat to clean out the sleep from his voice.

" I'm comin." He commented, pulling himself up.

" Ah, no, you're not. Weirdo." Ava's tone made him frown.

" You ain't runnin around alone." Daryl snapped as he grabbed his own boots.

" Daryl, seriously, you aren't going with me to pee. I wouldn't be able to do it in front of you." She said.

" Can't piss around me but you can fuck me?" He grumbled while he got himself ready.

" I can't explain why it's like that but it is." Ava said, standing up. He quicken his pace with his boots.

" Ava, wait!" he said as she reached the tent door. Because of his southern accent, her name came out as A-va, sound heavy on the first A.

" I'll be five minutes." She said, opening the door.

" Ava, stop!" Daryl said. But by the time he had his boots laced up and was standing, she had popped out of the bed. " Sum of bitch!" Daryl yelled, flinging himself outside and looking around. " Ava!" He yelled, making the people awake stare at him. He standing in his pants and dirty-wife beater with his hair completely sleep tossed but he didn't care.

" She went that way." Maggie said as she pointed behind his tent.

Ava stood up and quickly adjusted her pants as she heard Daryl yelling for her. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. He knew better than to scream out in the woods, she had thought. She hurried back towards the camp, towards the sounds of his yelling. She made it half way back when the angry hunter came flying through the brush.

" Just what the hell do you think you're doin?" He asked with his hands on his hips, his face red, and his chest heaving with his heavy breathing.

" Peeing." She said, stopping her steps short.

" I told you to wait for me." Daryl said.

" And I told you I couldn't pee in front of you." Ava said as she started walking away.

" Ain't safe to be out here alone." Daryl snapped as he went after her.

" You forget, I was running around the woods alone before I found you. I will be okay." She said. Daryl reached out and grabbed her arm as she passed him. He yanked her to him and glared down at her.

" Well you found me now." He growled. " You ain't goin anywhere without me, you hear me? You think this shit with Merle is over? It ain't. He'll get down from that roof and come after us. Those two walkers in that clinic ain't nothin to a pissed off Merle. Only Merle can kill Merle."

" I made it through his beatings before." Ava said, staring up at his dark face.

" Those ain't gonna be nothin compared to what he can do. I didn't come back to get you to have him beat you to death." He said. Ava looked from one of his blue eyes to the next then back again. Maybe he didn't go because Carol told him too.

" Why did you come for me?" She asked softly. Daryl's hard face slipped slightly. His hand loosen on her arm. He grunted and shook his head before he stepped back.

" Carol." He growled. " She wanted you back."

" Is she the only one?" Ava asked. There were a few tense moments were the couple just stared at each other. She begged him with her eyes. She begged for the truth but Daryl couldn't bring himself to say it.

" Gotta get back." He finally said. Ava closed her eyes, swallowed, nodded then looked back at him.

" Okay." She said. She pulled her arm completely out of his grasp and started pass him. Again Daryl stared in her empty space. " Daryl?" His jaw tighten a second before he looked at her. " I didn't come back for Carol and I'm not staying for her either."

He didn't know what to say as she turned and walked away. His heart was slamming in his chest. His throat was tight, making it hard to swallow. He frowned and started after her. If she didn't come back for Carol and wasn't staying for her either, than what did that mean? Could she be staying for him, he had to wonder. Would she stay for him? Daryl frowned and shook his head at himself. She would stay, he wasn't giving her the choice.

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl waited outside his tent while she changed her clothes. He could have went in with her. He wanted in. In the tent and in her. Daryl frowned and crossed his arms over his chest as he spread his legs while his dick harden. Stupid bastard. Their time together was over. He wouldn't be getting lost inside her again. A few minutes went back and the door to the tent unzipped and she stepped out wearing faded jeans and a long sleeve, green and blue plaid flannel shirt.

" Took you long enough. Rick's waitin." Daryl muttered.

" Lead the way." Ava said.

Slowly Daryl made his way towards the campfire, knowing she was right behind him. He knew because he kept glancing back to check. The entire group was around the fire, looking at Rick who had his hands on his hips. He was frowning into the dying fire. Carol looked back at Daryl who gave her a sharp shake of his head. Ava did not need to deal with her, not yet. Carol tugged her sweater closer to her and looked back to the fire.

" Glenn and I found something when we were out looking for the clinic." Rick said when Daryl and Ava joined him. " It's a prison and if it's cleared of walker, it will be safe. Should have running water and supplies. Most prisons around here run on a genny, like the one we had at Hershel's place. We are pulling up and headed out."

" Rick, do you really think..." Lori started.

" This is not a vote." Rick snapped, cutting her off right away as he stared at her. " Anyone who doesn't want to go, can stay here."

" How do we know if it's clear or not?" Carol asked.

" We don't. If you are coming, than pack up because we are leaving in ten minutes." Rick said.

With the cars and the truck packed, everyone became to break apart to pile into the vehicles. Daryl was straddling his bike, trying hard to not let Ava know he was waiting for her. His eyes tensed then relaxed as she stood by one cars. He wanted her with him but didn't want to ask. He suddenly grew very tired of wanting. He started the bike with a roar, making her look back at him. He hitched his head hard. Ava was biting the left side of her lip but started towards him.

" Get on. Ain't room left in the cars." He said.

Ava climbed on his bike, putting herself right against his back. His cross bow was strapped onto the bike behind her and all their gears was in the back of the truck T-Dog was driving. Daryl started walking the bike, waiting for Rick to take the lead. Ava's arms wrapped around his waist while her legs touched the back of his. She turned her head and nestled her face between his shoulders. Daryl was surprised but glad. Without thinking too hard, his left hand reached behind him. He grabbed her knee and pulled her into him more then he grabbed his handle bar again. Ava moved in even closer to him a second before Rick started through the woods towards the road. Daryl picked up his legs and took off after him. Glenn and Maggie were next with Hershel and Beth. T-dog and Carol brought up the rear.

They hit the road in no time. Ava seem to be completely relaxed against him and Daryl had to admit, it felt pretty good to have her there. Her arms were squeezing his waist tight. Her head was resting against him and part of him wondered if she was actually sleeping. He followed Rick for a while before the cop pulled over to the side of the road. Daryl followed the example and pulled over. He walked the bike until he was parked right behind Rick and turned it off. Ava pulled away to sit up straight. He hadn't realized just how warm her arms were around him until she pulled away.

Ava let her hands come to rest against her thighs as Rick started walking back towards them. Daryl stood up to balance the bike while he waited to see what they would do next. To his surprise, Ava's hands came to his sides. He looked down to see her take a hold of his belt loops. He looked back at her sharply. Whatever look he had on his face, caused her to shrink back and drop her hands. Daryl's shoulders fell when he realized he was frowning and squinting at her. He had to look pissed and he felt bad for it. It felt good to have her touching him. He was going to have to work on his expressions.

" So I think we should park next to the gate. Your bike is the loudest. If you rev it up..." Rick started.

" Any walkers outside will hear it." Daryl finished.

" and come to see what's going on." Rick said. " If it looks completely overrun, we leave."

" Stay here. We'll ride up. If there's too many of them, be easier to turn around back here then havin every one up there. People will panic if they see them. If there's too many, we'll come back and we all take off." Daryl said.

" Sounds like a plan." Rick said. The two men reached out and shook hands. " Be careful." Daryl nodded as Rick backed away. He sat down and started the bike up.

They rode down the road with the prison coming into view a short time later. He slowed the bike down but didn't stop. His eyes moved around the prison ground quickly. There were no walkers to be seen but that didn't mean anything. He rode up to the open gate and turned the bike so it was facing the gate sideways. When they came to a stop, Daryl stood up. Ava's hands came to her thighs again.

He reved the bike's engine hard, hearing the sound echo around the grounds and off the buildings. When he didn't see anything, he reved it again. He glanced down at Ava and saw her eyes were shut. She was running her hands up and down her thigns slowly. She was biting her bottom lip. Daryl narrowed his eyes and reved the bike again. Ava's lips parted and her head titled up. Daryl looked back to the grounds then back at her again.

The bike roared again, underneath her, sending very pleasurable feelings up through her body. She moaned softly and her hands closed against her jeans. Again the bike roared and again the feelings shot through her. Another roar, another shot of pleasure. Her thighs, and other parts, tingled. She knew she wasn't going to have an orgasm but that didn't stop the pleasure she was enjoying. A roar, a moan. Ava's tongue darted out and over her bottom lip. Ava sighed and slowly opened her eyes. She jumped when she saw Daryl was staring at her. Her face flushed with embarrassment. She opened her mouth to snap at him but he reved the bike up again, making her eyes shut.

She was enjoying what he was doing and he couldn't stop. No walkers were coming their way, so he didn't really care that he was wasting time. When Ava's eyes opened the second time, her eyes were dark. They always went dark when she wanted him. SHE wanted HIM. She stood up, grabbed his face and yanked it down even though he was twisted slightly. She planted her lips against his, making him close his eyes hard. Her moan moved through him as her tongue wrapped around his. She drew him into her mouth and sucked hard against him.

" Ah, man, " She moaned out again. " I'm actually really, really turned on right now."

" Ain't safe to be fuckin out in the open." Daryl muttered against her lips. " Sides' every one's waitin."

" As soon as we find a room then." Ava said. " Please."

" Got check shit out first." Daryl said.

" Why does it sound like you are trying to get out of having sex?" Ava asked, making his eyes open. It did sound like that.

" We check shit out then get a room away from the group. We ain't alone so you best be quiet." He said quickly.


	24. Chapter 24

_* Please Review! Im sorry I havent posted this chapter up. I started writing a new Norman Reedus story based on his movie Until The Night and brought it here. His character, Robert, just took me over. I have been battling him and Daryl. Robert wants some attention while Daryl paced in the back of my mind, threatening me to post him up so here he is!*_

Daryl sat back down on his bike and reved it one more time, just for his own amusement. Ava threw her arms around him and squeezed him hard. As he started to turn the bike around, Ava's hands slipped down him. Before he could react, Ava grabbed him through his pants. He jumped and the bike swerved. With a grunt, Daryl grabbed her hands with his left one and a battle began between them. He tried hard to pull her off him and she tried just as hard to stay attacted to him. He let it go on for a few minutes before he twitched the bones in her wrists, knowing it would hurt her without causing any real damaged.

" Hey!" He barely heard her over the wind rushing by.

To his surprise, she relented. She sagged against his back and let her hands come to rest against his stomach. She rubbed her cheek against his back and Daryl found it oddly comfortable. Daryl replaced his hand on the handle bar and bit down into his left cheek so he won't smile. They reached the group a few minutes later. Daryl pulled up to Rick's car and turned the bike off. The group started to gather around them. Ava squeezed Daryl as she cuddled closer to him.

" Anything?" Rick asked.

" Nothin. Ain't seen or heard nothin." Daryl reported.

" You think the inside is safe?" Carol asked.

" Won't know til we check it out." Daryl said. Rick nodded and faced everyone.

" Okay, we pull up, park just inside the gate then do a sweep of the building together." Rick said. " It's pretty big so it might take some time but we need to search it, top to bottom. Once we know it's walker free, we'll turn on the genny, find rooms of our own and eat. Let's head out."

With Daryl leading the way, they made their way to the prison. The tension in the group traveled through vehicles. Everyone was stressed, scared, and nervous. Daryl pulled into the prison grounds and parked his bike with the other ones parking beside him. Daryl and Ava dismounted with him grabbing his cross bow. They all walked over to T-Dog's truck with Rick pulling the tailgate down. Carefully he started passing out guns. Ava took her bow, arrows, and quiver. She slipped the quiver onto her back as Rick started to speak.

" We are going to check the entire building. We move slow and quiet." Rick said. Daryl grabbed her quiver and started to adjust it so it fit her better, surprising Ava. " If we come across one or two walkers, we let Ava and Daryl handle it. I don't want guns fired unless we have too." The light shaking Daryl put Ava through as he adjusted her, stopped. A second later he came to her side and handed over an arrow without looking at her.

The line went Daryl, Ava, Rick, Lori, Carl, Hershel, Beth, Maggie, Glenn, Carol, and T-Dog. Daryl grabbed one of the doors and pulled it open. With tension flowing through the group, they listened and waited for the tall tail shuffling and groaning of walkers. But it was quiet. The sun was shining through the big windows of the front of the prison, flooding it with natural light. Daryl started forward with his cross bow up and ready.

Slowly they moved through the prison, checking the cells first. They listened. They crept around. They looked. They checked the warden's quarters, the kitchen, the offices, there was nothing but some locked doors and papers thrown everywhere. By the time they were finished checking over the prison and deeming it clear, it was early evening.

" Hershel, you want to see if you can get the genny up and running?" Rick asked.

" It's getting dark. I won't be able to see well." Hershel said, making Rick nod.

" Okay, why don't we lock the place up, head to the warden's quarters then. We can all hold up there for the night. In the morning, we get that genny up then we can all shower and eat." Rick ordered.

" Should we bring our stuff in?" Lori asked.

" Not yet, just in case." Rick said. " Let's get inside then set up a watch schedule."

Once again the group moved into the prison. Everyone was still being quiet and careful. There was not one member of the group that wasn't feeling nervous as they walked. Just because they had checked things didn't mean there couldn't be walkers sneaking up on them and they all knew it. Up the stairs they walked until they came back to the wardens' quarters. When T-Dog walked in, being he was the last one, he shut and locked the door. At once, a sigh went through the group.

" Okay, so there are three watch towers. I think me, Daryl, and T-Dog should take the first watch." Rick said.

" Should we have a sign or something if things go wrong?" Lori asked.

" Yeah, you hear gun fire, you know shit's wrong." Daryl said simply. Lori's eyebrows went up at his words but his tone was completely calm.

" Everyone rest up." Rick said with a pointed look. " Let's go. We'll be back in a couple of hours to trade off with Glenn, Hershel, and Ava."

Daryl turned towards the door where T-Dog was waiting. He cast a look over his shoulder when Ava cleared her throat. She was staring at him, slowly shifting from one side to the next with her hands on her hips. It wasn't that he didn't want the sex she was offering. But what could he do? The group needed protection. Group's need for protection had to override their need to get off. He turned back around and left the room with his boys.

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl was standing on the landing of the watch tower by the gate. He was listening carefully and looking around closely. That was how he noticed the small shadow dart out of the prison. Daryl muttered to himself as his body reacted right away. He knew that shadow anywhere. Ava was looking for him. He whistled, pulling her attention up towards him. He couldn't make out her face in the darkness but he saw the little figure start to hurry towards him. He stayed right where he was, growing harder and harder as he waited for her. Her face on his bike was replaying in his memory. Her soft moans from the house filtered through him. Daryl spread his legs to accommodate his erection and grumbled that it was taking her to long to reach him.

" Daryl?" Ava asked when she finally walked into the top of the watch tower. He grunted but didn't turn around or come into the little office. " Have you seen anything?"

" No. Ain't nothin out there." He said.

" Are you sure?" She asked.

" Ain't nothin out there. You come out here to chat cuz I got better shit to do!" Daryl snapped again, still not turning around.

Ava sighed as the stiffness in his shoulders. He seemed so annoyed to have her there that she regretted coming out to find him. She blushed, thinking he didn't want her when she so clearly threw herself at him earlier. Ava closed her eyes and shook her head. She sighed heavy, swearing she'd never understand Daryl Dixon. She opened her eyes, turned and started to leave. She had almost reached the door when she felt him wrap his hand around her arm. He turned her and yanked her back so fast that Ava slammed into his chest. His other arm went around her waist.

" Where the hell you goin?" Daryl snapped with his voice dark as he glared down at her.

" You don't really seem to want me out here so I thought I'd leave." Ava said quietly. Daryl thrust his hips forward so she could feel his erection through their clothes.

" Seem like I don't want you here?" He asked.

" Is it safe?" Ava whispered. " I mean, shouldn't you be on watch?"

" Should have thought bout that 'fore you came out for me." Daryl muttered as he pulled her to the floor with him. " Ain't safe to take all your clothes off. Just get your pants and panties off so I can fuck you."

" Wow, Daryl. You really know how to turn a girl on." Ava muttered while she moved to her hands to her pants.

Daryl sat up on his knees with his hands on his hips as he frowned down at her. It was true, it wasn't safe for them to be naked. He did just need her pants and panties off. Hell, he wasn't even going to undress. He had planned on just pulling himself out of his boxers and fucking her like that. It was the safest plan, and a good one. They both would get what they wanted. Ava's hands paused on her pants. Her head dropped back to the floor as she stared at the ceiling.

" Maybe this was a mistake." She said.

" What?" Daryl asked. She raised up her head to look at him.

" This is just sex for you, isn't it?" She asked.

" Why you askin me that?" Daryl asked, feeling annoyed she was picking that moment to have a conversation. " Yeah it's about sex. What the hell more you want from me?"

" I like you, Daryl. I want you to like me too. I feel connected with you. I mean in the house..." She started but stopped when Daryl pushed himself up in a huff. The memory of the house flooded him. Her betrayal deflating his hard on at once.

" At the house you lied to me." He snapped.

" I didn't know what else to do!" Ava defended as she sat up. " I needed help! I couldn't keep going back to your brother, he would have ended up killing me and you know it! I didn't know you when I came to the group!"

" Got to know me pretty well. Could have said sumthin." Daryl still snapped as he walked back across the office.

" You're right, I should have." Ava said, standing up slowly. " I'm sorry." Daryl shook his head and looked outside. " I just...I didn't know how to bring it up." He crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look back at her.

" You best go back 'fore the others wonder where you're at." He said.

" This thing is over between us now, isn't it?" Ava asked quietly. Daryl grunted his reply, making her nod. " I'm sorry, Daryl. I really am."

When he did turn to look at her, he saw her making her way back to the stairs. He frowned and looked back outside. It was just as well. He shouldn't be thinking about fucking her when he had work to do. She was nothing but a lying bitch. A lying bitch he had decided he'd watch over. A lying bitch he considered his woman. Daryl's shoulders fell as he shook his head.

" Stupid bitch, get out of my head." He whispered.


	25. Chapter 25

_* Please Review! _

_Favorite lines: You need to figure your shit out _

_Really, Officer Grimes! You really locked your fucking door!_

_Why don't you tell the hunter to decide what he wants! *_

When Ava woke from her spot on the floor, she looked to her right and was surprised to see T-Dog sleeping. She sat up quickly and looked over to where Maggie and Glenn had went to sleep. Glenn was gone. She frowned and pushed off the sheet she had been using to cover herself. She stood up and checked the couch, sure enough, Hershel was missing.

" What the hell?" She asked. She was supposed to be on watch with them. Why didn't anyone wake her up? A door to one of the bedrooms opened off to her left. She looked over to see Rick come out. "Why didn't you wake me up for watch?" Rick rubbed his left hand over his face and shook his head.

" Daryl said you needed to sleep. He took your watch." He said, making her frown.

" Why would he do that?" She snapped. Rick came forward and took a gentle hold of her arm to lead her away from the sleeping group so she wouldn't wake anyone.

" He said you needed to heal more. He wanted you to rest." He said gently. Ava pulled away from him and stormed out of the room.

" Who the fuck is he?!" She snapped as she hurried through the prison. Who was he to decide what she needed and didn't need? He didn't even want her around. She frowned hard while she picked up her pace until she was running.

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl was rubbing his eyes with the fingers on his left hand as the sun was starting to rise. He shook his head to clear the sleep away. He was dead tired but figured after Hershel got the generator running, he could take a long, hopefully hot, shower, get something to eat, then pick a cell to collapse in. He'd sleep for a few hours then be ready for the day.

" What the fuck is your problem!" Ava yelled as she bust into the watch tower office.

Daryl dropped his hand and turned around to face her with a frown. For being first thing in the morning, and angry, she looked amazing. Her hair was down and wild from sleep. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were on fire. His body stirred at the sight of her rushing towards him. Things inside shifted and became fully alert.

" What?" He asked.

" Who are you to decide what I need!" She yelled.

" You need rest. You ain't gonna heal right if you don't rest." Daryl snapped. " And stop fuckin yellin at me."

" You need to figure your shit out! You came to clinic and stopped your brother from hurting me! You were so...almost gentle when you found Angel! You defended me against Merle, let me take care of Angel myself, and freaked when I wanted to pee then last night you tell me to leave you! You want me, then you act like you can't stand me, then you change it, again, and act like you care about my welfare by not letting me take my watch! I'm done, Daryl! I'm really fucking done! I'm leaving!" With that, she spun and took off for the door to leave the watch tower.

" The fuck you are!" Daryl roared as he stormed after her. " You ain't goin nowhere!"

He chased after her, with both of them running down the stairs that lead to ground. He was calling out to her while she was yelling for him to leave her alone. He ordered her to stop, she told him to fuck off. She burst out of the door to the outside and sprinted for Rick's car because her book back was in it. Daryl reached the ground as she reached the car. The door to the prison opened with Rick and Hershel coming outside.

" What the fuck!" Ava yelled as she tugged on the door handle. " Really, Officer Grimes! You really locked your fucking door!"

" Ava, knock it the fuck off!" Daryl yelled. Ava turned and headed towards Rick with tears streaming down her cheeks.

" What's going on?" Rick asked, seeing the hunter following the girl.

" I need in your car." Ava said.

" Are you alright?" Hershel asked.

" Please, Rick. I need to leave." Ava said with her voice cracking.

" Let's talk about this." Rick said as he reached out for her.

" No! I don't want to talk! I want to leave! I need my stuff! Please!" She begged as her voice completely gave over to the tears. " Please!"

" What's going on?" Rick said gently. " You don't have to leave."

" Yes I do! I'm not staying with this asshole!" Ava said as she turned to the side and pointed to Daryl with her left hand. Daryl stopped walking a few paces from her with his hands on his hips. " I can't! I won't!"

" Why not?" Rick asked. He was trying to handle her as if she was standing on a ledge, ready to jump.

" He hates me!" Ava cried. " And none of you know what I went through for you! None of you! I protected you, all of you, from Merle! I took his beatings and kept you hidden! I could have told him where you guys were, but I didn't! I saved Daryl from two walkers who would have torn into him if I hadn't stepped in! And now, you all hate me!" She was losing it and knew it. She was beyond cracking, she was split wide open and there was no stopping her from falling apart.

" We don't hate you." Rick said. Ava pointed at Daryl again without looking away from Rick.

" He does! He fucking hates me because I was too scared to tell him the truth! He hates me because I wanted to protect you all! I thought bring Daryl to Merle was the best choice! I thought Daryl could talk Merle into not attacking you all so I kept things from you, from him! And what do I get in return? Him mind fucking me every chance he gets! He wants me! He hates me! He wants me! He pushes me away! I can't do this shit anymore!" She yelled. Hershel came forward with his hands up.

" Young lady, take a deep breath." He said carefully. " No one blames you for what you did. We are grateful for you protecting us the way you did. I'm sorry you had to go through what you went through."

" I did for all of you! I saw the way you were with each other! You all care about each other! Is it so wrong that I want to be apart of that?! Is it so wrong that I didn't want to be alone! If I came to your group and told you about Angel from the get go, you all would have pushed me up and left! And you know it!" Ava screamed the last part. Her chest was heaving with her sobs. Her slender shoulders were trembling and she couldn't stop it.

" No, it's not wrong to want to be a part of a group." Hershel said.

" Well tell that to him!" Ava yelled as she pointed again.

" Look, Hershel is going to start the genny then everyone can shower and we can eat. The kitchen has a lot of dried food and other supplies. Why don't you take a breather, get that stuff done then you can decide what you want." Rick said.

" Why don't you tell the hunter to decide what he wants! And stop talking to me like I'm a child!" She yelled before she stormed past Rick and into the prison.

Daryl's hands dropped down as all three men watched the door swing shut behind her. Her words were ringing through his head. She had taken beatings to protect a group she wasn't apart of, to protect a group of people she didn't know. She thought he hated her. She thought he didn't want her at all. She said he needed to decide what he wanted but he had decided, hadn't he? He wanted her, he just didn't know how to have her. He didn't know how to take her outside of just fucking her.

" You want to tell me what that was about?" Rick asked as he and the older man looked at Daryl. Daryl sighed as his shoulders fell and he shook his head.

" Can I offer you some advice?" Hershel asked. " Go after her. She's been through a lot, at the hands of your own kin. If anyone knows what she is going through, it's you. If there is any two people that can relate to each other, it's you two." Wasn't that pretty much the same thing Carol said to him?

Daryl waited until Hershel and Rick had walked away before he started after her. His steps were quiet and slow. Hershel was right. Daryl did know what she was going through. He could understand why she did what she did, why she didn't tell him about Angel but it still pissed him off. After everything they had shared, all the talks they had had, all the things they had done together and to each other, he couldn't understand why she hadn't opened up to him about that part. Why she hadn't trusted him with it? Daryl sighed again. When she had opened herself up, he had thrown it back in her face. She had every right to be upset with him. He did what she said. He did pull her in then push her out again. He was mind fucking her. Merle beat her body while Daryl was beating her brain.

As he walked into the prison, it finally hit him. She wouldn't have opened up because he never would have and she was him. He learned not to trust people, she shared that lesson. He had never told anyone all that had happen to him as a child, she hadn't told him all that she was going through. She was him. Ava was Daryl and Daryl was Ava. She was the one person who could, and did, understand him and yet, he was pushing her away. He had only told her about his scars because he had too, she had to see them when they had sex. If he had been able to keep his clothes on, he wouldn't have told her about them. Angel had been her scars.

As he entered the cell block part of the prison, he looked up to the second level. He could hear the faint sounds of tears and knew he'd find her somewhere up there. With a deep breath, Daryl started up the stairs. He had no idea what he was going to say to her when he reached her but he needed to say something. He didn't want her to leave. He couldn't even stand the idea of her being out in the woods alone. The very idea of her leaving was making him feel...something. He wasn't sure what but he was feeling something. Something that was make it hard for him to breath and his pulse to kick up when he thought about her being alone. Something that made he want to rush her and demand for her to stay by his side.

Daryl was still frowning when he reached the second level. He followed her tears down the walk way until he reached one of the middle cells. Ava was sitting on the bottom bunk, leaning forward with her head in her hands. She was trembling all over as he filled the doorway, casting his shadow into the cell. What was he supposed to say now?


	26. Chapter 26

_* Please Review!*_

He didn't say anything. She didn't even know he was there. Daryl watched her as she cried softly. She kept her face hidden in her hands. He didn't know how to handle a woman's tears. He wanted to leave, to walk away but he forced himself to stand there. He didn't run from things because they were hard, he wasn't going to run from her because she was expressing an emotion, even if that emotion was freaking him out.

" Ava." At the sound of his voice, Ava's head snapped up. She grabbed the bunk to jump up and ended up smacking her head on the top bunk.

" Ow!" She explained as she sank back down and grabbed at her head. Daryl slipped his cross bow off, set it down against the cell's door and came forward with his frown in place.

" You got to be careful." He snapped.

" Get out." She said. Daryl didn't stop walking until he was in front of her. He took a hold of her wrists and started to try and remove her hands from her head but Ava started fighting him right away. " Let me go!"

" Stop fightin me and let me check your head!" Daryl snapped.

" Let go!" Ava yelled as he squeezed her wrists. She tried to fling her arms around but Daryl was holding them still. " Let go!"

" For fuck sakes can you just stop for two seconds so I can check your head." Daryl said. Ava glared up at him as he finally trapped her arms above her head and against the top bunk. He moved so he was standing in between her legs.

" Why do you want to check? You don't care!" She spit at him.

" That ain't fuckin true!" He said as he glared back at her. " And you know it."

" How the hell would I know that? Can you explain that to me, Daryl? Can you explain how I'm supposed to know you care about me? You don't. You don't care about me. You can't. Being nice one minute then an ass the next doesn't make people think you care about them!" She snapped. Daryl's eyebrows knit together and he opened his mouth to speak when a rumble went through the prison that pulled at both their attention. A series of clicks could be heard. " What is that?" Ava asked quietly.

" Hershel got the genny up." He said. The light above their head flicked, turned on, went off, then went on and stayed on. They both looked up at it as the lights in the walk way and the prison block went on. There was another round of clicks.

" What are those clicks?" Ava asked.

" Might be those locked doors opening up down there." Daryl said.

They both looked at each other then. At once, she started to stand and he let go of her. But he didn't move back so while she was standing, her entire body brushed against his. His dick exploded at the sensation, hardening up in a flash as they locked eyes. Her cheeks flushed. His chest rose and fell slowly. Ava swallowed and sucked in her bottom lip. Daryl's eyes dropped to watch the movement. His eyes darken as lust flooded his face. He started to lean down, wanting and needing to kiss her hard...when the unmistakable sounds of shuffling and moaning reached them. Ava's eyes widen as she gripped at his chest. He turned his head towards the cell door and held his breath.

" Walkers." Ava whispered.

" Stay behind me." Daryl said as he pulled away from her.

Quietly and quickly they moved towards the cell door. He grabbed his cross bow, and they started out of the cell. Daryl's hands came to the railing as Ava moved to his side. Both relaxed at the sight. There were only three walkers. Nothing Daryl couldn't handle on his own from where they were at. He took aim at one. Shoot, take down, re-load. Shoot, take down, re-load. Shoot, re-load.

" Best get outside to tell Rick and Hershel." Daryl said. To Ava's surprise, he grabbed her hand and together they started towards the stairs, with Daryl in the lead. " Where's your bow?"

" I left it upstairs in the Warden's quarters." She said as they jogged down the stairs.

When they reached the bottom, Daryl let her go. They both moved to two different walkers to retrieve his arrows. He grabbed one, she took one, they both moved to the third downed walker. Ava took the used arrow from his hand and leaned down as he grabbed the third one. She used the walker's shirt to clean both arrows off. When he popped out his last one, he crouched down so he was across from her. Together they cleaned his arrows, slowly looking up to meet each other's eyes.

But the eye contact didn't last. Shuffling and moaning started from the two newly unlocked doors that was on either side of the cell block. Ava looked to her left in shock. Daryl looked to his in anger. Walkers will filling the doorways with their arms stretched out and their dead eyes turned towards them. Ava's arm shot out to grab Daryl's wrist.

" Daryl!" She whispered in panic. Slowly they stood up together and moved so their backs came flat against each other. " What do we do?" She asked. There was no way they could out run them and Daryl couldn't take them down fast enough by himself.

" Stay close. We gonna have to make a run for it." He said.

" We can't, you know it." Ava said, bring her hand to his right hip. Daryl glanced down as she unstrapped his knife. He looked back at the walkers in front of him. " We need to take out as many as we can."

" Don't be stupid brave." He warned her. " Just take out what gets close to you."

With that, Ava turned and they moved forward together. She stabbed his knife into a walker's head, right throw it's eye. Daryl stabbed another. They stabbed, they tried to run towards the door. He didn't have time to load his cross bow so he was stabbing with his arrows. Quickly though, they were becoming overrun.

" Ava! Watch your ass!" Daryl yelled as a walker closed in on her back.

She yanked his knife out of another walker and spun to take out the close walker as Daryl tried to push towards her. Before he could reach her though, gun fire ripped out. Daryl tucked down, trying hard to dodge the bullets Rick and Hershel were firing. He was breathing hard and covered in sweat. He grabbed a walker that was close to Ava and tossed the dead man away from her. He caught Ava around the waist and they tumbled down to the floor with his body protecting hers. She covered her ears but it did little to cut out the screams of the gun. Around them, the dead fell for the final time.

When the last walker fell and there was only the echo of the shots, Rick and Hershel ran into the room. Daryl's weight left Ava a second before he hauled her up. Without meaning to, Daryl slammed Ava's back into the wall off to their right. His eyes were wide with, fear and panic if she had to guess. His hands started to swept down her body as Rick and Hershel yelled.

" You been bit?!" Daryl yelled in a rush.

" What happen? Where did they all come from!" Rick was yelling.

" You been bit?!" Daryl yelled again to her when she didn't answer. He sank to his knees with his hands gliding down her legs.

" No. Daryl, relax." Ava said quickly.

" You been bit?!" He yelled without listening to her. He swept up her body, spun her around and started patting down her back and sides. " Answer me!"

" Daryl, where did they come from!" Rick was still yelling while Daryl yelled at Ava and moved his hands down her.

" I haven't bit!" Ava yelled. The members of the group filled into the cell block with everyone yelling and asking questions. " Daryl!" Ava asked as his hands worked down one leg than back up the other. She whipped around and grabbed him by his face. " I haven't been bit or scratched."

" That your blood?!" Daryl yelled, his voice still edged with panic.

" No." Ava said as Rick moved to his wife and the group. Daryl wasn't focused on anything but her body as he searched her over. Ava grabbed his chin and made him look at her. "It's. Not. My. Blood. I haven't be bit or scratched. I'm fine, relax. You need to relax." Daryl's eyes searched her face. He was just as covered in blood as she was. " Did you get bit?" He grunted and quickly shook his head. Ava sighed and nodded. " Okay. We need to talk to everyone. When Hershel turned on the generator, it must have unlocked doors and let them out. There could be more." His chest was still heaving so she framed his face with both her hands and brought her forehead to his. " I'm fine. You're fine. Relax." She whispered.

" They never touched you?" He whispered.

" No. I promise." She whispered.

Slightly, she tilted her head an brushed her lips against his. His right hand flew up and into her hair. Forcefully, he tilted her head more to give himself better access to her mouth and shoved his tongue deep inside her. Her hands slipped from his face to grip at his shoulders. He drove his tongue fast and hard against hers. His breath was panting across her cheek.

" Daryl," Rick said gently. " we need to figure some things out." Daryl pulled his mouth away from hers so they could stare at each other.

" It's okay." Ava whispered. " Let's go."

For the first time since she started watching him, Daryl looked unsure. As he pulled away to turn, he grabbed her by her arm and held her against his body. They walked to the middle of the room where everyone was waiting. He squeezed her arm tightly, not tight enough to hurt her but tight enough that she couldn't get away from him. She understood what it meant. While other men put their arms around their women's shoulders or waists, Daryl held her arm. While another man might hug her to assure himself she was okay but Daryl needed to control her movements, control how far away she was from him and she let him. This was Daryl Dixon's show of affection and she would take it.

* _What do you think about everything? How about Daryl freaking out? How about his show of affection?*_


	27. Chapter 27

_* Please Review!*_

With Ava tucked up against his back, the group started making their way back towards the Warden's quarters. Rick wanted Lori and Carl to stay locked up there with Beth until they cleared the prison for sure. Daryl wanted Ava to grab her bow and arrows. She was fine with using his knife but he refused to let continue with it. He didn't want her to get that close to the walkers again.

Once the three were locked away and everyone had a weapon, the sweep began. At times only Daryl or Ava took the spare walkers down but when there was a large group, the guns were needed. They fired guns, shot arrows, and ran. The walkers followed them as they shot behind them. Daryl's eyes moved from walkers to Ava and back. He needed her in his sights as much as he could have her. She could handle herself, he knew that but that didn't mean he wanted her too.

Finally, after a few hours of intense searching and killing, all the walkers were brought down. The group was tired, starving, sweaty and some covered in the blood. Glenn and Maggie held onto each other with Daryl frowning at them. Should he be doing that to Ava? He looked over to were she stood, staring at a down walker and listening to Rick as he talked about their next move. He wanted to do what Glenn was doing. He wanted grab Ava and yank her against him but Glenn didn't grab Maggie. He didn't yank her to him but Daryl didn't know how to be gentle.

Ava looked over to Daryl who was standing with his hands on his hips, staring hard at her. He was still breathing hard and tension and anger were rolling off him in waves. But that was nothing new, Daryl Dixon was mad about something most of the time. She sighed as they stared at each other. She was starving, needed a shower and a change of clothes. She didn't want to deal with his emotional outbursts or him pushing her away again which he was likely to do after he kissed her the way he had. Rick patted her arm and started making his way towards her hunter.

" Look, we are going to shower in shifts." Rick said when he reached Daryl who hadn't looked away from Ava yet. Rick turned to look back at her to find her staring at Daryl. Rick tried to suppress his smile as he looked back to Daryl. He turned so his words would only reach the hunter. " Why don't you take Ava back to the Warden's quarters. You could both use a shower. Maybe together." Daryl's head jerked to Rick as other parts of him responded to the words.

" What?" Daryl asked. Rick nodded and moved in closer.

" Take your woman upstairs and lock the two of you in the bathroom. You will both feel better." He said.

After Daryl and Ava grabbed their things from the car and the truck they started back into the prison. With Daryl following behind Ava and his eyes trained on her ass, they made their way up the stairs quietly. Lori, Beth, and Carl were going to be released from their hiding. Rick and T-Dog were going to close the front gate. The women would shower first in one of the large shower rooms, then the men would go next. Food would be made afterwards then they'd start dragging the bodies out of the prison.

" Is everything okay?" Lori asked when Ava and Daryl walked in.

" Now it is. Rick and Hershel said to come down." Ava said.

" Is it safe?" Beth asked.

" It is." Ava said as she started towards the back. " You guys can grab your stuff then head to the showers downstairs."

" What are you two going to do?" Lori asked.

" Best you mind your own." Daryl muttered as he followed after Ava.

Daryl walked into the bathroom as Ava set her bag down and started to open it up. He turned, grabbed the door, and quietly shut it. He locked it a second later. Without talking, the two of them brushed their teeth, standing side by side. He stared at her through the mirror. She kept her eyes shut. He looked at her hair, at the blood that smeared on her face and her clothes.

After they cleaned their mouths, Ava turned and walked towards the tub. Daryl turned and leaned against the counter while she turned the water in the shower on. She waited a few seconds then stuck her hand under the flow. She sighed loudly and it came out in a small moan as she smiled. She looked back at Daryl who's hands were on the counter, at his sides.

" It's warm, actually getting hot now." She said. She turned back and looked at him. Ava sighed while they stared at each other for a few minutes. " Do you want to get in together?"

' Fuck yeah.' He thought but didn't say.

Ava grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head, making him look to her tits and stomach. She dropped the shirt down then grabbed the bra clasp at her back. With a smile, she watched Daryl's eyes take her in as she slipped the bra off. His hands tighten on the counter but he still didn't move. He watched her as she undressed, tossing each blood coated piece of clothing to the floor. Still he didn't move, not even when she stepped into the shower and closed the curtain.

Ava sighed as the hot water hit her. She tilted her head back, wetting her hair. With her eyes shut, she brought her hands to her hair. She wasn't worried about what Daryl was doing. He had always waited for her to get completely naked before he would take his clothes off, almost like he wanted to be sure she wouldn't turn him down and walk away.

True to Daryl, he had waited before he slipped into the tub, behind her. He stared at her bare, wet ass. He was rock hard and straining out for her. He reached out to touch her then pulled back. He frowned as his hands went into two tight fists. He swallowed hard and shook his head. He wanted to touch her, more than anything. Slowly he closed his eyes.

Forcefully, Daryl grabbed her by her ribs and tugged her straight back into his back. His cock hit her ass and jerked, making Ava moan softly. She pulled away and turned around to look at him. He was wearing a very Daryl expression, a frown and his eyebrows knitted together. She watched as his eyes went to her stomach, went to the new bruises Merle had given her. His face tighten even more. Ava shook her head, wanting to distract him from the marks.

" Let me wash you." She said softy.

She reached behind him and grabbed the soap that was resting in there already. She grabbed the wash cloth and stuck it under the stream behind him. Daryl watched her with his arms at his sides. She rubbed the soap bar around in the wash cloth until suds started to appear then she started washing him. She watched her work. She watched as she washed his neck. His skin was rough from the sun burn he had gotten from being outside so much. He watched her while her hands glided over his shoulders. When Ava reached his chest, she finally met his eyes.

" There's dirt under dirt on you." Ava said with a small smile. " When was the last time you had a shower?"

" Been a while." Daryl muttered. Last shower he had had was when they lived at Hershel's farm.

" I can tell." Ava said, washing his stomach and chest.

Her hands traveled across his abs, making him jerk and his breath caught. She bit hard into her lower lip to keep from giggling. She could see him trying and failing to control himself as her hands moved across him. Taking a chance, she dropped the wash cloth and soaped up her hands. His eyes widen slightly in question but Ava just smiled.

He hoped. He prayed. He silently begged for her to touch him. He pleaded quietly with his eyes that her hands would travel low on him. He just wanted her to stroke him, even if it was just for a bit. He started slowly rocking side to side, needing to move. As if she heard him, her hand began to circle his dick. Daryl's eyes shut when her other hand went to his sac. She massaged his balls while she started to stroke up and down him. He clamped his mouth shut as he started to breath heavy. She squeezed his shaft, moving up to the tip. She squeezed it then started down him again. Daryl groaned without thinking. He loved it when she played with his balls, when she took them in her mouth and sucked them, when she let her teeth drag along them, and when she just squeezed and rubbed them.

She loved watching the pleasure play over his face. His head went back as his neck strained. He grunted while his stomach hitched. She moved his hardness and scratched her nails against his balls. Daryl's face tighten as his whole body spasmed. He lowered his head, opened his eyes and glared at her, but it wasn't anger that went over his face. It was heat, lust, and want. He grabbed her by her hair and yanked her, bring her right against him again. His head dipped down and he roughly took control of her mouth. But then something moved through him, something changed.

His lips went soft against hers. His tongue moved slower into her mouth. His hand loosen in her hair. His other hand came to her waist. Daryl pushed her against him so her hand was trapped on his dick. He stopped kissing her like he was trying to own her and more like he wanted to enjoy her. Their tongues wrapped around each other, pulled back and moved forward again. He wasn't the slow, rough Daryl she had gotten used too. He was, something else.

" Need to get you washed. I want this blood off you." Daryl whispered against her lips.

" Really? You want to wash up, right now? I sort of had other things in mind." Ava whined.

" Want that too but I don't want those sum of bitches blood on your skin." Daryl muttered.

As they locked eyes once again, they watched each other as they washed. He finished washing his lower body while she washed all over hers. They switched positions so she could use the water to start on her hair. As she closed her eyes and started to work in the shampoo through her strands, Daryl bit his cheek and reached out. She jumped when he put his hands on her waist. He guided her to turn around and started washing her hair for her.

Ava sighed and almost melted as his strong hands went through her hair. His fingertips gazed against her scalp as he massaged her. She moaned, making his body tighten even more. His hands just barely touched her back as he moved them down through her long strands. He washed and washed her hair until he was sure it was soap free then reached around her and turned the water off.

" Best get out so you ain't cold." He said with his voice husky. Ava turned around and nodded.

With a towel wrapped around her, she stepped out of the tub. She grabbed another one and started squeezing her hair into it. Daryl snatched up another towel but instead of putting it around his waist when he left the tub, he laid it on the bathroom floor and took her hand. Ava tilted her head and watched as he took a hold of her towel with his other hand and pulled it open. She let him guide her to the floor where he moved over her. He took a hold of himself and moved to her center. He looked down at her without moving.

" Yes." Ava whispered his unasked question.

He thrust into her and froze with his eyes shut. She took a hold of him and wrapped her legs around his waist. Their foreheads were together and their breath started to mix. She moaned in completely contentment. Daryl wondered why he had stayed mad at her when they could have spent much of their time combined. He opened his eyes, raised up off her to start to move and caught sight of her bruises again.

" Don't." Ava said quickly. " Don't look at them. Don't worry about them. I'm fine. They hardly hurt now. Just be here, with me, in this moment." Daryl narrowed his eyes and looked at her again, making her nod. " I'm fine."

He started to pull away but she grabbed his hips and dug her nails into him. Daryl groaned at the mixture of the pain and pleasure he was feeling from pulling out of her body. He jammed his way back into her, pulling out a loud moan from her. She wanted to ignore the marks, he could do that, for the moment. He let himself just get lost inside her.

So on the floor of the bathroom, with her on a towel and her wet hair spread out around her, he drilled her. He kept his left hand on her hips and his right one by her side. She lifted up, he thrust harder. She pulled back, he grunted. In, out, her body swallowed him down and Daryl realized he was quickly ended to orgasm.

" Ah shit!" He moaned out. " This ain't gonna last much longer." He warned with his teeth gritted together.

" I don't care." Ava moaned as she threw her head back. " Oh God I don't care about anything right now, just don't stop!" She was close, so close that she was losing the ability to think. Daryl was a man built to pleasure a woman. He didn't even have to try hard and she was ready to cum.

And lucky for them both, she came a few thrusts later. He followed her just half a stroke afterwards. She gripped him, he panted his pleasure through his mouth. Cumming inside her felt like heaven. Rushing into her body, filling her with himself, felt amazing and the fact that she got off around him, intensified his orgasm like he had never known possible. Now that they had a place to stay again, he was make sure he was inside her as much as he could be. He was going to take it until she figured out he wasn't good enough for her.


	28. Chapter 28

_* Please Review! Sorry for the delay, I sort of ran out of ideas but the new season has helped me! Yeah! LOL *_

When Daryl and Ava untangled themselves from each other and stood up, Daryl realized his legs were shaking. He grabbed his boxers up off the floor and stole a look to Ava. She was getting dressed, smiling to herself. Her cheeks were flushed and he knew it had nothing to do with the hot water of the shower. He was the reason she was flushed. He was the reason she was smiling so much. The man inside him was proud, grinning ear to ear and pounding on his chest.

" So I want to ask you something." She said after she pulled her shirt on.

" Oh yeah? And what's that?" Daryl asked as he looked down at his belt while he fixed it. When she didn't say anything, Daryl's lifted his eyes to see her staring at him. She was only wearing her panties and her shirt and she looked nervous.

" You're not going to ignore me now, are you? I mean you're not gonna pull away from me...are you?" She asked. Daryl pressed his lips together but didn't say anything, causing Ava to sigh. " It's just, it seems like when you let yourself get close to me, you pull away a second later. You pull me to you, then push me away. I'd kind of like to know where I stand with you now." Daryl looked down at his belt and started working on it again.

" Gonna stand with me." He muttered.

" And what does that mean?" She asked.

" Means, you ain't gonna be away from me." He said. When he glanced at her again, she was almost grinning. His heart jumped and his breath caught.

" Good. I'd like to be with you." Ava said. Daryl dropped his eyes again. He leaned down and snatched up his wife beater.

" Don't seem like you got much of a choice." He said. " Now get dressed. Gotta find a place for our shit."

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Daryl followed behind Ava as she was walked through the cell block. He was close enough to her back that he could reach out and touch her if he had too. He could grab her shirt and yank her out of the way of harm if he needed too but he was far enough away that he won't run into her. They passed cell after cell and he wondered where she was leading them. Most of the other group members were getting settled in cells at the front of the block and on the bottom level. But Ava had brought them to the second level and it seemed like she was picking a place completely away from everyone, not that he was going to complain. They needed as much privacy as they could get.

" Well this one should work, don't you think?" Ava asked when they came to the last cell on the block. Daryl pulled his eyes away from her to look inside the cell.

" Thinkin so." He said.

" We could, " Ava started as she walked in. " take the two beds off the bedframes and put them on the floor so we can sleep next to each other, if you want."

" Sounds right." Daryl said, dropping his bag down right away.

" I could hang up some twine by the bars and hang a blanket so we have privacy." She suggested when she looked back at him. Daryl nodded while he placed his hands on his hips.

" Alright." He said, making her smile. She let her bag slip to the floor then started towards him.

" So I guess we should help drag out the bodies." Ava said. She brought her hands to his chest. She let them slid up to his neck while she pressed herself against him.

" You ain't gotta do that." Daryl said as she stepped up and pressed her lips to his neck. Daryl's eyes went shut as his body reacted right away. It didn't matter that they had just had sex. He was starting to stir again.

" What would you like me to do then?" She whispered against his skin. Daryl's eyes went shut as his hands came to her sides.

" Get the room ready." He said with his voice filled with heat and lust again.

" Okay. You go and get that shit done then come back and I will clean you up." Ava whispered. Daryl grunted low in his throat and looked down at her.

" Yeah. Put the beds together. Hang up a blanket. My boys and I got to clean up and set a watch schedule." He said.

" Anyone know if Daryl is done in the shower?" T-Dog called out from the bottom level of the cell block. Daryl frowned while Ava smiled.

" I guess I should let you go." She said.

Daryl nodded as his tongue darted out and over his bottom lip. His eyes went from her lips. He wanted to kiss her but for the life of him, he couldn't seem to do it. He just had to tilt his head slightly to the right and brush his lips against hers. He dipped down then stopped and straighten up again. She smiled as a loud burst of air left him. She tugged on his neck, forcing his head down as she tilted. He left his eyes open as hers went shut. She kissed him gently and was surprised when his tongue slid out over her lips. She opened for him right away. But instead of the rough owning of her mouth like she was used to from him, he slowly let his tongue flow over hers. His hands tighten on her hips and he guided her into him.

Daryl shut his eyes and gently turned them. He pressed her against the bars and started to thrust his hips against hers. She whimpered as he pulled his tongue back. Her hands went into the hair at the back of his head as her small tongue chased after his. He was surprised when she slipped into his mouth. The tip of her tongue glided along the roof of his mouth, making him groan loudly.

" Hey Daryl!" T-Dog called up. Daryl ignored him as he grabbed the bars and pushed them both into them. He wanted her again and knew she could feel it. She hooked one leg around his and moaned as their tongues danced together. " Come on, Man! I know you're up there." Daryl yanked his mouth away from hers.

" Sum of a bitch." He growled, making Ava laugh. She brought her arms up and took a hold of the bars over her head.

" Go." She said. Daryl tilted his head slightly as his eyes narrowed.

" You tryin to get rid of me?" He asked. Ava swept her tongue over her bottom lip, yanking his eyes to it.

" Not at all. The sooner you leave, the sooner you come back. I'll get this place ready for us. If you aren't back by the time it's done, I'll come out and help with the bodies." She said as she grinded herself against him. Daryl shifted, placing his right leg in between her legs. She smiled and closed her eyes while she rubbed it. Her breath increased as she hit the right spot. Daryl's hands tighten against the bars.

" Sure you don't want to keep this goin?" He asked.

" Five minutes then I'm coming up there! You two better be dressed!" T-Dog yelled.

" You ain't gotta do that shit." He muttered to her. " I don't want you touchin them."

" They aren't my first walkers, Daryl." Ava said as she opened her eyes and stopped moving.

" Don't care. They your first walkers since you became mine and I said I don't want you near them." He said, his voice a little stronger then it was before. To his surprise, she smiled.

" Since I became yours? You claiming me now?" She asked.

" That's what you want, ain't it? You want to be my woman. Want me to be your man." He said. Ava sighed and brought her hands to his chest. She pushed the sides of his vest open so she could rub him better.

" Yeah. It's what I want." She confirmed.

" Well alright then." Daryl said, stepping back. " Then do what your man wants and stay the fuck here."

" Okay." She said. Daryl frowned.

" That's it? Just alright? You ain't gonna fight me on this?" He asked,

" No, not this time, but don't get used to ordering me around." She said. She pushed at his chest then. " Now go. Do what your woman wants and hurry the fuck up." Daryl's eyebrows went up a second before he actually chuckled.

" I'm goin and it ain't cuz you told me." He said, walking towards the doorway.

" Be careful." Ava said. Daryl gave her a hard, sharp nod then turned and walked away.

" Keep your panties on!" He called down to T-Dog. " I'm comin already!" Ava smiled to herself as she listened to him walk around. She knew the minute he hit the stairs. His steps echoed off the walls.

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl grabbed a walker by its ankles while T-Dog grabbed the shoulders. Together they lifted the dead guy and stared towards one of the piles they were quickly making. Thankfully they had cleared out almost all the bodies, making a few piles around the fence until they could decide on what else to do with them. Daryl was hot. He was tired. He was covered in sweat and all he could think about was getting back to Ava and burying himself inside her. He hoped and prayed she had fixed up a blanket so they could have some privacy. He knew he could always just slip his dick out and take her on but he found he wanted to be naked with her.

Ava took a hold of one of the railings on an outside walkway. She held her breath as the sun glistened off Daryl's sweat coated arms. She had to bite back a moan. His eyes were squinted and his mouth was partially open as he worked, Ava sighed and gripped the railing. She couldn't wait to get him inside and up into their cell again.

" Daryl's a good man, you know." Carol said as she joined Ava. Ava nodded and smiled.

" Yeah, he is." She said in agreement. " Can I...can I ask you something?" Ava said, tearing her eyes from Daryl to look at Carol.

" Sure." She said, meeting Ava's eyes.

" Did you make Daryl come for me?" She asked.

" I did, at first." Carol said. Ava's dropped her eyes a second before she turned back towards the yard where Daryl and T-Dog were working. " We fought about it for a bit. I walked away from him. I thought I'd give him some time to cool off but a few minutes later I saw him grab his cross bow and start storming around. When I stood up to ask him what he was doing he yelled at me. He said he was going to get you but because he wanted too, not because I told him too."

" I kind of hoped he came for me, for me." Ava said.

" He did, Ava, he did. When the other guys said they would go, Daryl said no. He said he was going to get you alone. Rick reminded him that Daryl didn't know where the clinic was. So Daryl said they could come but that only he was rescuing. He said rescue, not coming after. He said, ' You show me the clinic but I rescue the girl.' " Ava bit down into her bottom lip and smiled.


	29. Chapter 29

_* Please Review! I feel like I am losing my creative juices, what is happening to me? this will pick up, i just wanted to show the grop getting comfortable.*_

Daryl trudged back into the prison cell after all the bodies were cleared around. It was close to the afternoon and he was hot and sweating. He was also hungry. He was going up to his cell to collect Ava then head down to the cafeteria to see what there was to eat. He needed to take stock of the food to know what he needed to hunt for and how often he was going to do it. They were also going to talk about setting up a watch. Daryl wanted Ava to be on watch with him. Not because he didn't trust her, she could handle herself but because he wanted to be around her more. He decided to keep that to himself though.

" Ava." Daryl called out as he reached the top stair. He turned and started down the walkway towards their cell. True to her word, Ava had hung up a blanket that covered the doorway and the bars. He pushed it to the side when he reached it. She was making their beds with their pillows and the other blankets but she stopped and smiled when she saw him.

" Hey." She said. " All done?"

" Yeah. You got shit done." Daryl stated. She was sitting on her knees so she placed her hands on her thighs and nodded.

" I did. We raided the Warden's quarters. We split up the blankets, pillows, towels and clothes we found. I got us three extra blankets and some sheets." She said. " You hungry?"

" Yeah." He said.

" Should we head down to the cafeteria?" Ava asked, standing up slowly.

TWDTWDTWD

The prison had an assortment of dried and canned food. Big bottles of water lined one side of the pantry. The canned food was still good and the group was excited. They ate canned fruit and vegetables while they stood around a counter. Rick started talking about who would take watch when and where. There were three towers and he wanted someone in those towers all through the night.

While Rick talked, Daryl watched Ava from his spot just behind her. She still had bruises on her arms and neck from Merle. He knew she was still in pain as well because she was standing slightly hunched over. Every so often she would touch her stomach or her side. Daryl felt bad because he hadn't thought about her injuries when he fucked her on the bathroom floor or when he pressed her against the bars of their cell. He had only thought about his dick and how good it felt to be inside her. As if Ava knew he was watching, she turned and cast her eyes over her shoulder.

She met his eyes and offered up a small smile. Then she faced Rick again. He watched as she reached behind her and started to back up. Daryl stayed planted at his spot. A second later her left hand came to his leg. She gathered up his pants and put her back against his chest. Daryl shifted and stiffened up while Ava rolled her shoulders and stretched her neck. Daryl sighed and brought his hands to her shoulders. She was tight. He didn't know if it was from stress or the pain he knew she was feeling but he started to massage her anyway. Right away Ava sighed and almost sank into him. He rubbed her slightly harder, feeling how she was beginning to relax under his hands.

" Daryl and I will still hunt so we can have fresh meat." Daryl suddenly heard Rick say. He looked up at the cop then. He hadn't realized that he had started staring at Ava while he rubbed her.

" Yeah, sounds right." The Hunter agreed.

It was decided that Daryl and Ava would take tower one watch for the first half of the night and Glenn for the second. Tower two would be split between Rick for the first half of the night and T-Dog for the second. Tower three would have Hershel then Carol . No one questioned why Daryl and Ava were going on watch together. Everyone knew Ava would want to pull her fair share of the weight and that Daryl wouldn't want her alone.

" Well," Ava said quietly as she turned to face Daryl, making him drop his arms to his sides. She took a hold of his vest and smiled up at him. "we have a few hours before watch. Is there something else you want to do?" Daryl raised one eyebrow and glanced over her head at the others. They were talking together or finishing up their food. He looked back down at her smiling face. Yeah there was something he wanted to do, he just didn't know how to tell her. She stepped up against him and suddenly Daryl didn't have to tell her anything. " Oh, I see there is something you'd like to do." With a small giggle, she took his hand and started to lead him out.

" Daryl, where will you be?" Rick asked, making the hunter look back at him.

" Cell block." He said before he looked back at Ava.

Daryl let her lead him without saying a word. She held tightly to his hand while they walked. They crossed the short distance to the cell block with him growing harder with every step. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take off for their little room but he didn't. He knew if he did that, it would hurt her injuries plus...he kind of liked that she was leading him and it was taking a while. He was growing more and more excited. He really liked that she was lightly rubbing her fingers against his.

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl was flat on his back on their bed with his pants and boxers down around his ankles. His right leg was bent but not still. He straighten it out, then bent it again as she rode him with his hands planted on her ass. His left leg trembled from her strokes. Her eyes were shut and she was biting her lower lip. His neck was arched up and his head was tilted back. He was opening his eyes then snapping them shut as he licked his lips. Ava moaned out while his hips and ass came off the floor. She lowered her head down, chin to chest. Her hair fell over her shoulders, covering her breasts so only her nipples were showing.

" Daryl." She whispered. She grabbed his hands and pulled them up to her chest. She threw her head back, sending her hair back as well. He opened his eyes, watching through squinted eyes as she covered her breasts with his hands.

" Ah...fuck..." He groaned out. He was trying his damndest to be quiet. The group was filling back into the area. They could hear their voices echoing off the walls. The last thing he wanted was for them to know he was having sex.

" I love fucking you." She whispered. Her mouth dropped open as a whimpered escaped her a second later.

" Best...be...quiet...now." He barely got out before he had to throw his head back and squeeze his eyes shut. Her hands went back behind her to slap down on his thighs as she arched her back as far back as she could. She was riding him hard and fast.

" I'm cumming." She whispered a second before the orgasm overtook her. It didn't seem to matter how many times they had sex, when she came it still amazed him. This beautiful girl was trembling and clutching his dick and it was all because of him.

" Sum of a bitch!" Daryl called out in a long groan as his eyes shut. His own head went back, slamming down onto the pillow she had snatched up for him. He was pouring deep inside her, his balls twitching with his own orgasm. The cords in his neck were straining as he struggled to breath through the extreme pleasure.

TWDTWDTWD

Ava stared out into the darkness from her spot in the watch tower. Daryl was standing on the other side, his crossbow ready for anything. He stole a few looks at her, at the woman who was His woman officially. Sure, he had thought of her as his since they had been in the house together but now...well now she knew it and he knew it. And she accept it. That part he still couldn't get over.

Ava shifted her position and leaned her head back against the tower. She was trying hard not to be tired. If Daryl and the others could stand it, so could she. In her arms, she shifted the gun, still staring into the dark and listening for any signs of a walker. Daryl whistled, making her stand up straight and look over at him. She smiled as he made his way towards her.

" Go on in. Lay down on that couch a bit." He said as he hitched his head towards the inside of the tower.

" No, I'm okay." Ava said.

" You ain't. You're tired. Don't take a genius to see it. You're tired and still hurtin. We need you at your best and you ain't gonna be that when you're tired." Daryl said. Leave it to Daryl to say something sweet but back it up with something hard.

" I want to be around you." She said.

" You just gonna be in there. I can see ya and hear ya." He said. " Now go on. Get in there." She tilted her head as she looked at him.

" Daryl..."

" Ain't askin you, Ava. I'm tellin. You need to heal." He said as he turned around to give her his back. "Shouldn't be doin what we did in that cell til you're healed more. That ain't gonna happen again til I say it." She heard him mutter. Ava smiled but started into the office. She had ways of breaking him down and she knew it. Yeah, she could let him think he had control of their sex life.

TWDTWDTWD

Slowly Daryl paced up and down the walkway of the tower. He looked in on her a few times, glad to see she was listening to him and sleeping. Last thing he needed, the group needed...he wanted, was for her body to give out. He turned and looked in on her for the thousandth time that night. She was curled up on the couch, laying on her side with the blanket half off and half off her. He slung his cross bow over his right shoulder and started into the tower.

Daryl crouched down and pulled the blanket over her, making sure she was covered more. Without thinking too hard, he let his fingertips trail along her cheek. She sighed and turned her face into his hand. Daryl frowned at himself. He was going to have to be stronger with her when it came to her body. He was serious. They shouldn't be having sex until she was healed and he was going to hold off. If he had to force himself to not look at her, he would. He would resist the pull he felt to her body until the bruises were gone. Lord only knew how much, if any, internal damage Merle had given her and Daryl pounding away into her body wasn't going to help a thing.

TWDTWDTWD

" Ava, wake up." Daryl said as he nudged her. " Time to head in." Ava sighed but opened her eyes to look up at him.

" Our watch is over?" She whispered.

" Yeah, come on." He said from his standing position. Ava pushed the blankets off her and shook her head.

" Why did you let me sleep through the whole thing?" She asked as she stood up.

" Told you, you need the rest." He grumbled.

He took a hold of her elbow and led her pass a very sleepy Glenn. The young guy nodded towards them before they left. Ava noted how Daryl's hand didn't leave her. She smiled to herself. His hold was different now, it had changed, just like how his kissed changed. He was still strong but there was a gentleness to him now. She glanced up at him to see his face still owned the hard expression it always did.

TWDTWDTWD

Ava was laying on half on her side and half on her stomach, curled up tight into Daryl. His right arm was around her shoulders and their legs were tangled up. Her head was on his pec while her fingertips were stroking up and down the center of his chest. Every so often she would circle his left nipple, making his eyes shut every time she did it. His plan to not have sex with her had flown straight out of the window. When they were alone in their cell she was constantly stripping down in front of him. He had to grit his teeth together, trying hard to not go to her, but it never lasted. He would find himself reaching for her until she was pressed against him.

" This week has been so amazing." She whispered as she stared into the darkness.

Daryl's left hand was under his head. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Their first week in the prison the group settled in nicely. Sections of the prison were being cleaned out with everyone washing away the left over blood and clearing out the trash. Lori and Carol had been able to make decent meals for them and everyone was starting to feel comfortable.

" Been good." Daryl muttered. His right hand flat against her lower back. " Glenn was bitchin today."

" About what?" Ava asked before she nestled more into his chest.

" Runnin out of condoms." Daryl muttered as he felt her place a light kiss against his chest. Glenn's complaining had made Daryl start to wonder about what he and Ava had been doing. They were having more sex than he had ever thought possible, despite his promises to himself. They had sex before watch and when they took their showers in the morning.

" That sucks. What did you tell him?" Ava asked, her lips brushing against his skin while she spoke.

" Told him to pull out. Told him to shot his shit on her stomach." Daryl said. Ava laughed and tilted her head up to look at him. Daryl glanced down at her then back at the ceiling.

" I bet he blushed like crazy." She said. " How did that conversation even come up?"

" He asked me if he could have some of the condoms we were usin." Ava smiled as she reached up and started to stroke his unruly goatee.

" We don't use condoms." She said.

" Kid asked me if we were tryin to get you pregnant." He said.

" Well that would be just stupid." She said. " You don't have to worry about that happening. Before the outbreak happen, I had a five year birth control method placed. Now after those five years are up, you might have to start pulling out if the world isn't back." She reached up and kissed his neck.

" You don't gonna get pregnant for five years?" Daryl asked.

" Nope." She whispered as she started to climb on top of him.


	30. Chapter 30

Just dropping an author's note, because of the hurricaine, i cant update for a bit but as soon as I can, there will be updates and i will started murphy's memory again, only it will be in the site rules, lol. i hope everyone is making it through the storm okay!


	31. Chapter 31

_* Please Review!*_

The second week went about the same for them until close to the end of that week. Daryl and Rick had went out hunting so Ava was sitting outside in the yard with the others, stitching up some of the holes in Daryl pants. She had his melded pants folded up and sitting on beside her. She was in the process of stitching one of the knees in his dark grey cargo pants when Rick and Daryl walked through one of the big gates. She pulled the thread through, looking up at the two men. Daryl's eyebrows were drawn together and Rick looked upset. Ava set the pants down and stood up. She quickly made her way to them, hoping the other members were to busy day dreaming and cloud watching to pay attention to Rick and Daryl.

" What's wrong?" She asked when she reached them.

" Sum one's watchin us." Daryl muttered as he met her eyes.

" Now we don't know that for sure." Rick said quietly.

" I know it." Daryl commented. " Different spots of the ground are matted down."

" Like my spot was?" Ava asked.

" Yeah." Daryl said as he nodded.

" Should we tell the group?" She asked.

" Sort of have too, don't you think?" Rick asked. " We need to at least let them know what Daryl thinks."

" Ain't what I think, it's what I know." Daryl said.

" Maybe we should start looking through the woods than." Ava suggested.

" Thinkin of sneaking out there tonight. Seein if I can catch them in the act." Daryl said.

" That's a good idea." Ava said as she nodded. " I'll come out with you."

" Like hell you will." Daryl snapped.

" Daryl." Ava started. Rick leaned into them.

" Can you guy fight about this later? I want to gather everyone up and get them inside, in case anyone is watching now. I don't want whoever it is to know we are on to them but I need to tell the group." Rick said.

With Daryl still frowning, Rick called out to the group. Ava walked beside her hunter, knowing their conversation wasn't over. She would go out into the woods with him and help find out who was watching the group. She would help protect them and prove herself to them. She had been handling herself before Daryl came along and she would handle herself afterward him. She had taken beatings from Merle that she was sure had resulted in a few broken ribs, she could more then handle hiding out in the trees to see who was watching them.

The group walked together into the prison and followed after Rick into the mess hall. Some members sat at that the table, others leaned against the wall. Ava took her spot next to Daryl as he sat down on a set of stairs. She moved in close to him, letting one hand slip along the inside of his thigh. She gathered up the pants at his knees and let her head come to rest against his shoulder. Daryl had his forearms resting against his knees and his hands clasped together.

" So when Daryl and I were out hunting this morning, we noticed so well worn spots in the grass at a few places around the prison. Daryl feels that might mean someone is watching is." Rick said.

" Ain't what I feel." Daryl spoke up. " It's what I know." Worried looks played across the features of the people around them as they started to muttered and question what they should do.

" For the rest of the day, I want everyone to act like everything is fine, everything is normal. We don't want to let on that we know what is happening. Tonight, Daryl, maybe Ava," At the mention of her name, Daryl tensed against her. " and I are going to go into the woods and try and see if we can gather any information on the watchers."

" You ain't goin." Daryl muttered as Rick talked.

" You can't tell me what to do, Daryl." Ava said without them looking at each other. " I can more than handle myself and you know it. You saw me with your brother. You know that if I can handle him, I can handle anything." Daryl snapped his head to the side, making her look up at him.

" And if it's him?" He asked as he glared down at her. " If it's him comin after you to finish the job?"

" I'm not scared of Merle Dixon." Ava said.

" You need to be. You may have got away from him once but he ain't likely to let you do it a second time. He get his hands on you, he's likely to kill you. He'll want to make an example out of it, teach you a lesson. Death'll be slow and painful. You want that for yourself? You want me to have to watch that? You want me to find you out there, broken and bleedin? Cause I will. He'll either make me watch or leave you where I can find you. That what you want?" Daryl snapped.

" Daryl." Ava started. He shook his head and and wretched away from her.

" I ain't gonna watch it." He snapped as he pulled himself up.

Ava sighed and watched as he made his way across the room. He settled himself against a cabinet. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned to the side. He was squinting and frowning as Rick and the group talked. With a shake of her head, Ava pulled herself up and started after him. His eyes flicked towards her then back to Rick. His face tighten but that didn't stop her. She moved through the room until she came to stand right in front of him. When he still didn't look at her, Ava reached up and took a hold of his chin. She tilted his head down, forcing him to look at her.

" I will stay in the trees. I will perch up high in one of the trees by one of the worn spots and wait there. I can be quiet. I waited out hoards of walkers in the trees, I can wait out living men." She said quietly. " I won't go out there unarmed."

" You do what you want. I don't care." Daryl snapped. A pang of regret shot through him right away as a look of hurt passed over her face. She dropped her hand from his chin and stepped away from him.

" Stop acting like a dick." She snapped. " If you didn't care about what happen to you then you won't be telling me what to do but you want to act like it doesn't matter, then fine." She turned and all but stormed out of the room, making some of the members look from her to Daryl.

" Fuck." Daryl muttered to himself. And this was why he never had girlfriends. This was why he cut out before things could get emotional.

Ava burst outside, feeling the heat of the sun against her skin the second she opened the door. Who did he think he was? Why did he think he got to tell her what to do? She made been through that with Merle, she would not go through it with Daryl. She cared about him and wanted to be with him but she won't let him control her. She stormed over to the watch tower by the big gate. The second she reached it, she turned and put her back against the building. She sank down to her knees, crossed her legs at her ankles and her arms over her chest.

Soon, the door to the prison opened and everyone started filing out right away. She narrowed her eyes down the second Daryl appeared. He looked around, looking for her no doubt. Let him look. She wasn't going to call out to him or try and pull his attention to her. He would find her then it was up to him to come to her. She did nothing wrong, he was behind a dick.

Carol caught Ava's eyes as she started towards her. Ava shifted her position to look past the woman she had once thought to be Daryl's girlfriend. He had found her and stopped walking. His hands came to his hips as they locked eyes. She frowned, he squinted. She waited, he didn't move. Her anger spiked, he just stared.

" Ava, can I talk to you a minute?" Carol asked, pulling her eyes to her face.

" About what?" Ava asked. Carol smiled and reached a hand down to her.

" Come and walk with me." She said.

Daryl watched as Ava reached up and took a hold of Carol. The woman pulled Ava up and together, they started walked, away from him. Daryl's fingers tighten on his hips. He pressed his lips together and glared. Ava glanced behind her and to him before she looked away and shook her head. He didn't know if the head shake was for him or for Carol.

" Can I offer up some advice?" Hershel said, coming up to Daryl's side. " Times are unsteady now. We never know who will be here tomorrow and who won't. My wife, she was here one minute, gone the next. I regret not telling her how I felt about her, right before she died. I'd hate that for you." Daryl looked to the old vet but the man was staring at Ava and Carol. " Sometimes they get ideas in their heads, things they want to do. Sometimes we think those ideas are stupid and won't work. Sometimes, we can't see how strong they really are. Ava isn't like other women. She's a female you. Think hard about how you feel when someone tells you that you can't do anything."


End file.
